Rain Destroy Dozens of Houses in Yemen’s Hadhramaut
(AWP) - Officials in the provinces of Hadhramaut, southeastern Yemen, said dozens of families have been living in makeshift shelters since they were displaced last week after their houses collapsed or were submerged by heavy rains that continued over three days.
The rain coincided with a hurricane that struck large swathes of Yemen, causing valleys to be submerged with water in some places and leaving large financial losses, many mudbrick houses destroyed, and huge areas of land submerged.
Local authorities in the towns of al-Rida and Qusai’er in Hadhramaut province had announced them as a flood-disadvantaged area after it had been surrounded by flood water from all directions, driving about 200 families away from their homes.
“We have been displaced out of our houses due to the heavy rains that continued for more than 12 hours and even for one day or more. Now we live here in a school as displaced people,” said Omar Hussein Karama, a displaced person whose house was destroyed by rains.
Umm Taqi al-Din, a displaced woman whose house was also destroyed by the rains, said, “Our houses were devastated, and we were severely damaged. We live in the school here as displaced persons. There is no food, water or anything.”
Abu Bakr Salem, a local official, said, “The houses were destroyed, families rendered homeless and still most of the citizens are displaced. Dozens of families have been displaced from their houses, which were entirely or partly destroyed. There are some ramshackle houses. So far, more than one family cannot go back to their homes lest they might collapse. The area we are in now is Old Qusai’er, where the houses are built of mudbricks.”
Ahmed Naji al-Mawsati, another local official, said many houses in the town of Qusai’er were partly or entirely destroyed.
“According to initial estimations, more than 200 houses in the area have been damaged. Heavy rains on the town have turned many areas and villages into besieged ones and submerged many houses. Ponds of water and huge marshes surrounding these villages until this day. At the local authority, we have announced Qusai’er as a flood-disadvantaged area,” he added.