Abdikadir Ali Mohamed moved his children out of their home in Daawale IDP camp in a notorious flood-prone area of Mogadishu on 3 October and relocated them to Yasmin camp on higher ground in in Garasbaley.

Abdikadir was aware of the risks of living in Siigaale, a low-lying swampy area, as in 2020 his five year old son tragically drowned there in flash floods.

So, when he heard the alerts of possible El Nino flooding coming in early October, he quickly moved out.

“I heard on the radio about the alerts issued by the Banadir administration, that is what I heard. My son was washed away in the water and later died and it’s because of this fear that we ran away from the area and moved to an open area,” he said.

The problem facing the family now, however, is that Abdikadir doesn’t know people in the new area and misses his regular customers. He works as a porter with a handcart and normally asks his neighbours to watch over his children when he goes to work, as his wife died in 2020 in childbirth in a local clinic.

“There’s no food here, we live on whatever our neighbours give us. If the rain starts, we don’t have proper shelter. We don’t have water. We get water from a place three kilometres away and pay 2,000 shillings for a jerrycan. We use just one jerry can for drinking, cooking, and ablutions,” he said.

Abdikadir’s family came to Mogadishu in 2017 fleeing clan conflict in Qoryolley, Lower Shabelle, abandoning their four-hectare farm. He built a house in Daawale near Siigaale in 2021 that they have now left behind as they camp out in Garasbaley.

“I had running water, I had electricity, I was leading a life just like middle class people. I was living in an iron-sheet house and it was enough for me and my children,” he said.

Two of his children aged 12 and 10 are enrolled at Hodan primary and middle school but they cannot afford the transport so are currently missing their classes.

Also prompted to move out of her home by flood warnings is Faay Mohamed Ali, a widowed mother of six. They were living in flood prone Wanlaweyn camp in Hodan district and moved to Daryel camp in Deynile district in response to flood alerts.

But they are now sleeping in the open and fearing for their safety at night.

She washes clothes for a living but since moving, it’s hard for her to walk the six kilometres to her work place. Her $3.5 income has dipped as she works inconsistently now.

“Previously the area was near, but now it’s far. I have to wake up early and start walking, that’s how I have to work so I can feed my children. I had people I regularly worked for but now they are too far away,” she said.

Faay is living with another IDP family in Daryel although they have had no help and are struggling for food.

Similarly, Ahado Isaq Dhayow heard the flood alerts and moved away from their house near the water catchment area in Deynile district.

She and her five children are now staying in Harameyn camp on the outskirts of Garasbaley, where they say water rarely collects.

However, she said they have not had any sleep since coming to this new camp as they fear they could get attacked during the night.

“I have nothing in this area, I’m living outside with no house. I feel sad since there is no house and we sleep outside. It’s cold here, we don’t have blankets or plastic sheeting, we’ve got nothing,” she complained.

Ahado, whose husband died in 2015, migrated to Mogadishu in 2017 when drought killed most of their herd of 100 goats in Hudur, Bakool region. She has been working as a cleaner in Deynile market earning $60 a month.

She said she is trying to stay updated on the rainfall and flood alerts to decide whether to return with her children to their former camp.

Various camp leaders informed Radio Ergo’s local reporter about 216 families moving out of flood risk areas in Hodan, and a further 149 families evacuating from camps in Deynile.

They are living without proper shelter and finding it hard to support their families with enough food and water, having left their jobs and familiar neighbourhoods.

Source: Radio Ergo