Bad weather is worsening the humanitarian situation in Yemen

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned in a statement on its website that the Arab country “experienced two climate extremes in 2022, ranging from severe drought to extreme floods”.

From January to June, Yemen suffered from drought, an unprecedented rise in temperature, which affected all cultivated areas of the country, he stressed.

As such, he noted that the period was the third driest in nearly 40 years after 2014 and 2000.

This situation has resulted in crop losses, heat stress and low availability of fodder for livestock, affecting food security and increasing the risk of disease, malnutrition and, in extreme cases, death, OCHA stressed.

Instead, he said, heavy rains and floods have affected many parts of Yemen since mid-July.

He noted that the rainfall during that month was almost 300 percent above normal.

By the end of August, more than 300,000 people, most of them displaced, had been affected in 146 districts in 18 governorates, according to the international organization.

The text explains that the floods destroyed properties, farms and livelihoods, as well as damaged critical infrastructure, including roads and shelters for displaced people.

The climate has exacerbated food insecurity in a country where 19 million people struggle to find food, he said.

OCHA warned that “flooding displaced unexploded ordnance into residential and agricultural areas, posing a serious risk to civilians, especially children.”

More than 23 million Yemenis out of a total of 31 million are in need of humanitarian assistance or protection, but the U.N. He said agencies could only provide assistance to 11.6 million each month.

The war began in 2014 when Houthi rebels took up arms and seized large swathes of the country, including its capital, Sanaa.

The following year, the Arab coalition, led by Saudi Arabia, intervened in the conflict in support of then-President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi.

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