A tropical cyclone that hit Somalia’s semi-autonomous region of Puntland has killed at least 140 people, the government said Wednesday, four days after the storm first made landfall.
The cyclone has mostly subsided, but the United Nations estimates that parts of the coast received as much rainfall during the storm as in all of 2012, the Associated press reports.
The Puntland government, which expects the death toll to rise to as high as 300 following the heavy flooding, has declared a state of emergency and appealed for international aid, Reuters reports. Victims of the storm are in need of clean water, non-perishable foods, medicines, shelter materials and blankets, the government said.
Adding to the devastation, the rains and flash floods led to the loss of 100,000 livestock in the famine-prone region, where the economy is heavily dependent on livestock.
Puntland said it cut ties with Somalia in August, but the Somali government, coming out of two decades of civil war, still pledged $1 million in aid.
[Reuters]