File photo. Representational.
Geneva, Switzerland: More than 800,000 people in Somalia could be forced to leave their homes over the next three months due to flooding, the UN migration agency warned Wednesday.
Somalia is entering a rainy season expected to bring above-average rainfall, worsened by the strengthening El Nino weather phenomenon, the International Organization for Migration said.
New projections by IOM and the Danish Refugee Council estimate that 874,319 people could be displaced between October and December, with flooding accounting for 92 percent of the projected displacement.
"We are looking at the possibility of hundreds of thousands of people losing their homes in just a matter of weeks," said Manuel Marques Pereira, the IOM's Somalia chief of mission.
"Many of these families have already been displaced before and have very little left to fall back on.
"There is still time to reduce the impact, but that window is closing. We urgently need funding to help people protect their homes and livelihoods, reach safer ground where necessary, and avoid another cycle of displacement."
