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More than 500 deaths feared in landslides in Ethiopia

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Heavy rains over southern Ethiopia trigger deadly landslides

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that heavy rains have caused mountain slopes to collapse in a remote region called the Gofa Zone in southern Ethiopia.

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – Landslides have claimed hundreds of lives in Africa’s second-most populous country and authorities warn the death toll could rise exponentially.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that heavy rains have caused mountain slopes to collapse in a remote region called the Gofa Zone in southern Ethiopia.

Photos from the scene of the accident show villagers clearing away mud and debris by hand in search of victims.

According to the latest report, 257 casualties were reported, but local authorities estimate the death toll to be close to 500.

Due to Ethiopia’s topography and vulnerability to extreme weather, there is a risk of flooding and landslides.

NOAA satellites estimate that parts of the region received 400 percent more rainfall than usual.

The country is currently experiencing the rainy season, which will last from late summer into autumn.

Satellite images show landslide in Papua New Guinea that probably buried thousands of people

Estimated rainfall over the last 90 days (NOAA)

Assessment teams estimate that more than 15,000 residents will need to be evacuated from the danger zone by means of transportation. The government is currently finalizing evacuation plans.

“These people are at high risk of further landslides and must be immediately evacuated to safe zones. Among them are at least 1,320 children under the age of five and 5,293 pregnant and breastfeeding women,” an OCHA bulletin said.

The landlocked country is also currently suffering from a cholera crisis, and aid organizations are reporting thousands of illnesses and deaths across the continent due to contaminated water.

The UN has reported nearly 400,000 cases, including 6,859 deaths, since the beginning of 2022 from countries such as Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

TOPSHOT – Residents and volunteers leave after digging in the mud to search for survivors and bodies at the scene of a landslide in Gofa on July 24, 2024. In tears and hugging each other, residents of Kencho Shacha Gozdi descend the hill where a landslide swept away their loved ones in this rural and remote area of ​​southern Ethiopia on Wednesday evening, after a third day of desperate digging. The landslide, the deadliest publicly reported so far in Ethiopia, the second most populous country on the African continent (120 million inhabitants), left at least 229 people dead.
(MICHELE SPATARI/AFP via Getty Images)

TOPSHOT – A general view of residents and volunteers digging in the mud to search for survivors at the scene of a landslide in Gofa on July 24, 2024. In tears and hugging each other, residents of Kencho Shacha Gozdi descend the hill where a landslide swept away their loved ones in this rural and remote area of ​​southern Ethiopia on Wednesday evening, after a third day of desperate digging. The landslide, the deadliest publicly reported so far in Ethiopia, the second most populous country on the African continent (120 million people), left at least 229 people dead.
(MICHELE SPATARI/AFP via Getty Images)

GOFA, ETHIOPIA – JULY 22: (—-FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY, ATTRIBUTES REQUIRED – “GOFA ZONE GOV. COMM. AFFAIRS DEP. / HANDOUT” – NO MARKETING, NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS – DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS—-) Search and rescue efforts continue following the landslide in the Gofa region of southern Ethiopia on July 22, 2024. The death toll from the landslide has risen to 146.
(Gofa Zone, Government Communications Department/Anadolu via Getty Image)

WHAT IS A LANDSLIDE?

A global weather phenomenon called El Niño is known to cause heavy rainfall in East Africa.

In June 2023, the world entered the El Niño phase, which lasted almost a year before transitioning to a neutral state of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation.

Meteorologists generally expect the globe to enter the so-called La Niña phenomenon before the end of the year, which is likely to bring below-average rainfall in Ethiopia and lead to drought and possibly famine.

The Pacific Ocean is currently in a neutral state, only fractions of a degree away from a weak El Niño. (FOX Weather)

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