Flooding Causes Mid-East Havoc
Media Line News Agency
October 29, 2008
Heavy rain and storms have caused some of the worst flooding the Middle East has seen in years.
In Yemen at least 49 people have been killed, according to official figures from the southern provinces of Hadramout and Mahra. However, the total toll is expected to be much higher with news services reporting about 65 dead and hundreds missing.
Yemen is one of the poorest countries in the world, and in addition to many roads being swept away by the rains many mud brick houses have also been destroyed. The lack of usable roads has made helicopters the only way to reach the victims.
Heavy rains have also swept over Morocco during the weekend, leaving at least 17 people dead in the floods that followed, according to news agencies.
Earlier this month some 30 people were killed by heavy downpours in the border area between Morocco and Algeria, where water levels in some cities reached 4.9 feet (1.5 meters) above normal level in what authorities called the worst rain in 20 years.
Even though there are substantial differences in the economic situation between Morocco and Yemen, both countries face the same geographical problem through their location along the coast with large mountain ranges inland.
Thunderstorms are fueled by the water they pick up while traveling over oceans; the water is later released from the clouds in the form of rain when the storm hits landfall.
In Yemen at least 49 people have been killed, according to official figures from the southern provinces of Hadramout and Mahra. However, the total toll is expected to be much higher with news services reporting about 65 dead and hundreds missing.
Yemen is one of the poorest countries in the world, and in addition to many roads being swept away by the rains many mud brick houses have also been destroyed. The lack of usable roads has made helicopters the only way to reach the victims.
Heavy rains have also swept over Morocco during the weekend, leaving at least 17 people dead in the floods that followed, according to news agencies.
Earlier this month some 30 people were killed by heavy downpours in the border area between Morocco and Algeria, where water levels in some cities reached 4.9 feet (1.5 meters) above normal level in what authorities called the worst rain in 20 years.
Even though there are substantial differences in the economic situation between Morocco and Yemen, both countries face the same geographical problem through their location along the coast with large mountain ranges inland.
Thunderstorms are fueled by the water they pick up while traveling over oceans; the water is later released from the clouds in the form of rain when the storm hits landfall.
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