Climate Change and Floods in Somalia

 

Somalia Most of the country consists of a gently southeast dipping plateau, bordered on the north by fault-scarp-bounded mountains near the margin of the Gulf of Aden. The northern mountains are as high as 2,500 m and are drained by north-flowing streams into the Gulf of Aden. The central part of the country is drained by Wadi Nogal, an integrated network of intermittent

Streams that flow east toward the Indian Ocean. The southern part of the country is drained by two permanent rivers. River Shebelle and River Jubba, that flow southeast ward to the Indian Ocean. The country is a semi-desert and covered to various degrees by shrubs except for irrigated farmland along the southern rivers and sparse forests in some higher mountains in the north.

Northern and Central Somalia has no permanent rivers. The people of this Area depend on water wells and reservoirs to store the annual rain which is sometimes limited. In these areas sometime in the rainy seasons get heavy rain which caused floods that impact the lives of people and livestocks.

During the rainy season, lightning strikes that area, destroying some of the livestocks. And this area are called dry land.

The southern part of the country is drained by two Permanent rivers, River Shebelle and River Jubba,

The Shebelle River name is derived from the Somali term Webi Shabeelle, meaning "Leopard River". The Somali administrative regions consisting of Middle Shebelle and Lower Shabeelle are also named after the river. The river is 2,526 Km long, with a catchment area of 283,054 Km². The average flow of the Shabelle River at Belet Weyne Station is 75 cubic meters (75,000  litres) per second. The river  begins in the highlands of Ethiopia, and then flows southeast into Somalia towards Mogadishu. Near Mogadishu, it turns sharply southwest, where it follows the coast. Below Mogadishu, the river becomes seasonal. During most years, the river dries up near Dhay. During heavy-rain periods in Ethiopia, the Shebeli River joins the Jubba and the combined waters then flow to the Indian Ocean the Shebelle has a number of tributaries, both seasonal and permanent rivers. They include:

·         Erer River

·         Galetti River

·         Wabe River

The Fafen only reaches the Shebelle in times of heavy rainfall; its stream usually ends before reaching the main river.

Inside Somalia Most of the floods in the country, especially in southern Somalia, are due to the river Shebelle. It has a lot of twists and turns from big cities making that twists like U-shape

At this angle has no high reflective power edge that protect the water to run out the city. Another biggest problem is it was not made of sand removal for the last 30 years this accumulated sand decreases the water catchment and the length of the river

The Juba River has three main tributaries in its upper catchment in Ethiopia, namely: the Dawa, the Genale and the Weyb, all of which flow south-eastwards. The Weyb and the Genale unite to form the Juba River just north of Doolow in Ethiopia; while the Dawa tributary joins the Juba River at Doolow Town, just after the Somalia-Ethiopia border. The total length of Juba River is 1,808 Km, with a catchment area of about 210,010 Km². On average, 186 cubic meters (186,000 litres) of water flow every second down the Juba River at Luuq station.

Jubba River, while in seasons of heavy rainfall, the river actually reaches the Jubba and thus the Somali Sea.

The neglected water flows to the ocean and some others displacing the people living around and near the river. 

There is many aspects that are would benefit this neglected water flows to the ocean and some others displacing the people living around and near the river.

This Information Prepared
by Eng Aidarus M. Ismail (Geologist)

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