Worst Floods in Decades Kill 29 in Somalia, Hit Towns Across East Africa 

A picture taken with a drone of people walking in the flooded streets of Baidoa town, the administrative capital of Southwest State in Somalia, 06 November 2023. (EPA)
A picture taken with a drone of people walking in the flooded streets of Baidoa town, the administrative capital of Southwest State in Somalia, 06 November 2023. (EPA)
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Worst Floods in Decades Kill 29 in Somalia, Hit Towns Across East Africa 

A picture taken with a drone of people walking in the flooded streets of Baidoa town, the administrative capital of Southwest State in Somalia, 06 November 2023. (EPA)
A picture taken with a drone of people walking in the flooded streets of Baidoa town, the administrative capital of Southwest State in Somalia, 06 November 2023. (EPA)

The worst flooding to hit Somalia in decades has killed 29 people and forced more than 300,000 to flee their homes, the National Disaster Management Agency said on Wednesday, following heavy rains that have inundated towns across East Africa.

Authorities have scrambled to rescue thousands of stranded people from the floodwater, which comes on the heels of the region's worst drought in 40 years.

"What is going on today is the worst for decades. It is worse than even the 1997 floods," said Hassan Isse, managing director of the Somali Disaster Management Agency (SOMDA).

The death toll and numbers of people displaced were likely to rise further, Isse said, because many people were trapped by floodwaters.

"I do not remember such floods in my life," said Mohamed Farah, a local elder in Baidoa city, in southwest Somalia. "People keep on evacuating looking for high ground."

At least 2,400 people have been cut off in Luuq town, where the Jubba River burst its banks, the United Nations has said.

"Luuq is surrounded by the river and floods are threatening us. People keep fleeing out of the town. Some are still trapped. Our shops have been washed away," said Ahmed Nur, a trader in Luuq.

Floods in neighboring Kenya have killed at least 15 people and submerged a bridge in Uganda, cutting off a road linking Kampala to oilfields in the northwest, the Kenya Red Cross and Uganda's road authority said.

The regional deluge was caused by the combined effect of two weather phenomena, El Niño and the Indian Ocean Dipole, said Nazanine Moshiri, a climate analyst at the International Crisis Group.

El Niño and the Indian Ocean Dipole are climate patterns that impact ocean surface temperatures and cause above-average rainfall.

"The impact of the flooding is much worse because the soil is so damaged from an unprecedented recent drought - years of conflict and al Shabaab militia's presence also makes building flood defenses and resilience more complex and costly," Moshiri said.

Scientists say climate change is causing more intense and more frequent extreme weather events. In response, African leaders have proposed new global taxes and reforms to international financial institutions to help fund climate change action.



Vatican Cancels Pope’s Weekend Engagements as He Battles ‘Complex’ Infection 

Pedestrians walk past the statue of Pope John Paul II outside the Gemelli hospital where Pope Francis is hospitalized for tests and treatment for an infection in Rome, on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
Pedestrians walk past the statue of Pope John Paul II outside the Gemelli hospital where Pope Francis is hospitalized for tests and treatment for an infection in Rome, on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
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Vatican Cancels Pope’s Weekend Engagements as He Battles ‘Complex’ Infection 

Pedestrians walk past the statue of Pope John Paul II outside the Gemelli hospital where Pope Francis is hospitalized for tests and treatment for an infection in Rome, on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
Pedestrians walk past the statue of Pope John Paul II outside the Gemelli hospital where Pope Francis is hospitalized for tests and treatment for an infection in Rome, on February 18, 2025. (AFP)

Pope Francis, who began his fifth day in hospital on Tuesday for what doctors have described as a "complex" respiratory infection, will not take part in this weekend's Holy Year events, the Vatican said on Tuesday.

The 88-year-old pontiff has been suffering from a respiratory infection for more than a week and was admitted to Rome's Gemelli hospital on Friday.

A planned public papal audience set for Saturday had been cancelled "due to the health condition of the Holy Father", the Vatican said in a brief statement.

A papal mass scheduled for Sunday will still take place, but will be led instead by a senior Vatican official, it added.

The Vatican said on Monday that doctors had changed the pope's drug therapy for the second time during his hospital stay to tackle a "complex clinical situation". They described it as a "polymicrobial infection of the respiratory tract".

Doctors say polymicrobial diseases can be caused by a mix of viruses, bacteria and fungi.

Francis, who has been pontiff since 2013, has had influenza and other health problems several times over the past two years. As a young adult he developed pleurisy and had part of one lung removed, and in recent times has been prone to lung infections.