Dozens killed and missing in Yemen floods

Monsoon rains leave at least 86 dead and raise fears of cholera outbreak, with more downpours forecast

Dozens of people have been killed or are missing as floods continue to ravage Yemen, with more heavy rain expected in the coming days.

Sixteen bodies were recovered from Al Mahwit's Malhan district on Wednesday, the head of civil defence told the Al Masirah news outlet run by Yemen's Houthi rebels. At least 22 others are missing.

At least 86 people have been killed and 33,000 people affected by the recent floods across four governorates, including Hodeidah, according to authorities in rebel-controlled areas.

Heavy rains are expected to continue in western and mountainous areas until the end of September, Al Masirah quoted the Houthi-appointed prime minister Ahmed Ghaleb Al Rahwi as saying in an emergency meeting on Wednesday. He directed local authorities and civil defence groups to accelerate rescue efforts.

The local meteorology office has warned of “a new wave of heavy rains”, Al Masirah reported, with residents instructed to avoid low-lying areas.

Yemen's monsoon season, which begins in March and intensifies in July, has caused particular devastation this year, displacing thousands of families and causing widespread damage.

The central highlands, coastal areas on the Red Sea and parts of the southern upland are expected to receive “unprecedented levels” of rain in the coming weeks, the World Health Organisation has said.

Severe flooding began in June and continued to worsen in July and the beginning of August, affecting many already displaced families, according to the UN's Office for Humanitarian Affairs.

The agency said more than 34,000 families had been affected by the floods as of August 9, with Hodeidah, Hajjah, Saada and Taiz among the areas worst hit by “devastating rains”.

Schools have been closed, dams have collapsed, key roads blocked and displacement camps badly damaged in the flooding. The UN's refugee agency said many of the victims were displaced families.

The flooding has increased concerns of a cholera outbreak in a country already weakened by years of war and instability. A diarrhoea treatment clinic in the city of Hais, in south-west Yemen, has seen an influx of patients, said doctors, who fear contaminated water is spreading the disease.

“The staff on duty are overburdened … the service could collapse at any moment”, Dr Bakil Al Hadrami told AFP.

The clinic received 530 suspected cholera cases between August 1 and 18, he said.

There are nearly 164,000 suspected cholera cases across Yemen – a figure that could climb to 250,000 in the coming weeks, the UN said.