US Agency: Nearly 1 Million People Affected by Floods in Yemen This Year

The US Agency for International Development ( USAID ) revealed that about one million people were affected by the heavy rains and resulting floods that hit Yemen during the annual rainy season this year.

“Heavy rains, floods and associated landslides affected nearly 938,000 people across the country during the rainy season between March and August 2024, according to reports from humanitarian actors,” the agency said in its latest report on the humanitarian situation in Yemen.

The report added that the floods have destroyed health care, water, sanitation and hygiene infrastructure, increasing the risk of cholera outbreak in the affected areas.

The agency said the floods also severely disrupted the country's agricultural sector, damaging about 85 percent of farmland, destroying crops and livelihoods, negatively impacting 279,400 head of livestock, and hampering harvesting and farming activities, which are critical to local food security, exacerbating food concerns among vulnerable populations.

The report noted that extreme weather conditions, including rains and floods, have exacerbated already dire food security and malnutrition conditions across the country, including among households in areas under the control of the recognized government, in the south of the country, which are expected to experience emergency levels ( IPC 4 ) or worse of acute food insecurity by January 2025.