Qatar Charity (QC) has begun providing urgent relief to the residents of the Beledweyne city, the capital of Hiran region in the Hirshabelle state of Somalia, which was badly affected by a major flood.

Local officials and those concerned with relief affairs in Somalia expressed their appreciation to Qatar Charity, which was the first humanitarian organization to deliver the relief aid to the affected.

Qatar Charity's relief aid includes providing safe drinking water daily to 652 displaced families. In the coming days, it will launch mobile clinics to provide health services, distribute personal hygiene kits, and build toilets.

Mr. Abdulfatah Adam, Director of Qatar Charity's Somalia office, said that Qatar Charity's field teams arrived in the field to assess the humanitarian situation in the city and the conditions of displacement camps outside it, in addition to distributing potable water. He added the initial assessment of the situation showed the urgent need for clean water. He pointed out that Qatar Charity's response will include all necessary sectors to help those affected so that they can return safely to their homes.

For his part, Mr. Mahamuud Moallim, the Commissioner of Somali Disaster Management Agency-SoDMA, said, “We thank Qatar Charity, which made us happy with its urgent intervention to help the affected in Beledweyne. We have worked with it in more than one place in Somalia, and today it is implementing relief projects.”

"Our city has been plagued by floods, despite all the efforts that have been made to prevent the water from reaching the city's residents, but its level was more than expected and many dams and barriers were built,” said Nadar Tabah Maalin, the mayor of Beledweyne. “We will do everything we can to deal with the repercussions of the floods," added the mayor.

She added that Qatar Charity, as usual, was the first humanitarian institution to provide much needed services to the displaced, thanking the State of Qatar and Qatar Charity for helping the flood victims and the deprived.

It is worth noting that the flood waters inundated vast areas along the river, which led to the displacement of 90% of the population of Beledweyne (nearly 250,000 families), according to SoDMA.

The floods caused massive damage to health clinics, schools, and sanitation facilities, and affected markets and food stores, leaving the population in dire need of emergency shelter, food, water, and sanitation.