Storm leaves hundreds in Bari village bereft of crucial livelihoods

(ERGO) – A sudden storm that struck the rural village of El-Gal, in Qandala in Somalia’s Bari region last month has left hundreds of families struggling to afford even one meal a day, after an earlier devastating period of drought.

The heavy rain, flash floods, and strong winds on 7 September killed people and livestock, destroyed hundreds of homes, and damaged the livelihoods of poor families now finding it difficult to recover.

Abdimudalib Ahmed Mohamed, 18, is supporting his eight younger siblings after their mother was killed when their home collapsed in the storm. The family now has no source of income and is surviving on limited assistance from neighbours.

“Our family depended on what our mother brought home and we would not eat unless she provided for us,” he said. “Losing her left us without support. Poverty is the biggest obstacle to our recovery. We now survive on what people around us can give us, but they can’t provide much.”

The family is living in a makeshift shelter after their two-room home collapsed. They can’t afford to rebuild the house. They used to live off $7 to $10 a day from a small business selling charcoal and raw meat that the teenager ran with his mother. His 85-year-old father is unable to work.

“We have no strength or means to support ourselves except for what God may provide. The children are also suffering from stomach problems, which are affecting many children and older people in the town. There are no health services here, and we can’t afford to travel elsewhere for treatment,” he told Radio Ergo.

Abdimudalib left middle school in 2023 because his family could no longer pay for his education. His younger siblings now face the same problem, as Omar bin Abdulaziz Primary and Middle School in El-Gal was destroyed by the storm.

The school was the only one in the area and had 300 pupils. The local administration said rebuilding had not begun. Even if the school is rebuilt, Abdimudalib’s family couldn’t afford the $100 monthly fees for four children who were enrolled.

The storm also affected pastoralists and families who depend on resin harvesting for their livelihoods. Mahmoud Mohamed Abdikarim, who lives in the rural area near El-Gal, said the storm killed 20 of his goats, destroyed their home, and damaged the frankincense trees that provide his family with an important source of income.

“This disaster has affected us very badly. The water swept away everything,” he said. He lost many trees in the storm, which had earned him nearly $1,000 a year in frankincense sales.

He borrowed money from shopkeepers to buy plastic sheeting to protect his family from the rain and has been looking for materials to use as bedding: “Everything is expensive in this village, with prices almost twice those in Bosaso. It is a remote village, and a vehicle travelling from Bosaso takes two nights to reach here.”

The father of seven added that the storm destroyed a house he owned and rented out for $25 a month. Providing for his family has now become difficult, leaving them short of food:

“Only God can get us out of this situation. We depended on livestock and the resin trade, but our livestock have been affected by the storm and the drought. We need any help available, both in the rural areas and in the town.”

Mahmoud said the rain lasted for six hours and came unexpectedly during the dry season. He added that they had not received warnings about El Niño, which is forecast to bring heavy rains accompanied by strong winds to Somalia from October until the end of the year.

The El-Gal deputy district commissioner, Shire Abdullahi Said, said three people and about 300 livestock were killed, and 150 homes collapsed. An assessment by the local administration found that 350 families in El-Gal and surrounding rural areas had lost livestock, farms and small businesses that provided their livelihoods.

“This area had already been affected by drought for a long time and was suffering from a lack of rain,” Shire said, adding that the drought had reduced the local production of resin.

“The drought affected the frankincense and resin-producing trees that people used to harvest, so what we relied on has become scarce. People are now facing similar hardships and there is little difference between their circumstances,” he said.

“In some places, people are still drawing water from the ground because the rain we received did not reach them. These are problems that we do not have the capacity to address.”

Shire said the storm disaster came at a difficult time, as pastoralists had not recovered from long drought that weakened their livestock and left them vulnerable.