About 600 Yemeni families displaced by floods in one week: IOM

About 600 families have been displaced by heavy rains and flooding in one week across Yemen, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

The IOM Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) found that at least 596 families – or 3,567 individuals – had been forced out of their homes once during the period from 2-8 August, noting that the city of Hudaydah recorded the largest displacement figures with 568 families affected.

According to the organisation, from 1 January to 8 August, IOM Yemen’s Displacement Tracking Matrix monitored the displacement of 18,455 families or 110,730 individuals at least once.

For weeks, Yemen has been witnessing heavy rains which have caused floods.

A Yemeni official from the Organisation for the Preservation of Historic Cities of Yemen (GOPHCY) warned that 5,000 buildings in the Old City of Sanaa, which is registered as a World Heritage Site, are at risk of collapse as a result of the rains.

Calls for providing aid to flood-stricken areas

A few days ago, five human rights organisations called to provide humanitarian and relief assistance to thousands of Yemenis who had been affected by the two-weeks of heavy rain and floods especially in Hudaydah, Sanaa, Ma’arib, Aden and Amran.

SAM Organisation for Rights and Liberties, the American Center for Justice (ACJ), Tamkeen for Development, Defence for human rights and the Women for Yemen Network warned in a joint statement that the initial images coming from Yemen confirm that the country has been exposed to an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe due to floods, which constitute an additional burden on civilians and exacerbate the humanitarian crisis which has already struck the country.

According to the statement, several refugee camps for displaced Yemenis have been destroyed by floods as a result of the high rains, amid fears of increased health risks due to diseases such as cholera, measles and dengue.

Scores of Yemenis have died over the past two weeks and thousands of families have been displaced due to persistent heavy rain and flooding.

In their statement, the organisations said both the Houthis and the internationally recognised government of President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi are neglecting this humanitarian disaster and focusing instead on military achievements.

They called on the Arab coalition and the United Nations to assume their moral and legal responsibilities towards the people of Yemen and to help alleviate their suffering.