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IOM: nearly 600 Yemeni families displaced by floods in one week

August 12, 2020 at 12:21 pm

A view of the destroyed historical building following heavy rain fall in Sanaa, Yemen on 6 August 2020 [Mohammed Hamoud/Anadolu Agency]

Nearly 600 families have been displaced by heavy rains and flooding in one week across Yemen, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said.

The IOM Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) found that at least 596 families – or 3,567 individuals – had been forced out of their homes once during the period from 2-8 August, noting that the city of Hudaydah recorded the largest displacement figures with 568 families affected.

According to the organisation, from 1 January to 8 August, IOM Yemen’s Displacement Tracking Matrix monitored the displacement of 18,455 families or 110,730 individuals at least once.

For weeks, Yemen has been witnessing heavy rains which have caused floods.

A Yemeni official from the Organisation for the Preservation of Historic Cities of Yemen (GOPHCY) warned that 5,000 buildings in the Old City of Sanaa, which is registered as a World Heritage Site, are at risk of collapse as a result of the rains.

READ: Rights groups call for aid for flood-stricken Yemen