Villages and coastal communities in Somalia, as far as 4,500km (2,800 miles) from the epicentre of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake were swept away and destroyed by the resulting tsunami on 26 December 2004. As of 5 January 2005 the confirmed death toll stood at 298. According to presidential spokesperson Yusuf Mohamed Ismail of the transitional government, more than 50,000 people were displaced.

Most of the damage was in the coastal region of the semi-autonomous Puntland area, particularly the region between Hafun in the Bari region and Garacad in the Mudug region. The narrow and low-lying peninsula peninsula of Hafun, 1150km (715 miles) northeast of Mogadishu, was particularly devastated. In Puntland, rising waters engulfed the town mosque of Brava and the villages of Beyla, Garacad, Muduy and Nugaal were reportedly destroyed. Other coastal areas including Lower Juba were also affected. The UN reported that the water destroyed 1,180 homes, smashed 2,400 boats and rendered freshwater wells and reservoirs unusable. The main bridge connecting Hafun to the mainland was washed away. As of 6 January, the village of Kulub , near Gara'ad , was still partially submerged. At Kulub and other places such as Hurdiye , teams from the World Food Programme reported that all the boats and other fishing equipment used by the residents to make a livelihood had been lost.

Aftermath

Around 12 tonnes of rice, maize and vegetable oil were delivered to Hafun on 30 December, four days after the tsunami. Previous attempts to deliver aid failed after trucks were unable to pass tsunami damaged roads near Foar , a village of 1000 people living in mud-and-wattle huts that was destroyed. The main bridge which connects the Hafun peninsula to the mainland was washed out. The twelve tonnes were then transferred onto two four-wheel drive vehicles that managed the 60km trip from Foar to Hafun in seven hours. The UN warned that the tsunami had worsened the situation after four years of drought in northern Somalia and further aid is desperately needed. It has distributed 200 tonnes of food aid to 12,000 people, but states that food for 30,000 is needed. The UN has four teams in the area and on 4 January appealed for USD 13m to assist 54,000 Somalis affected by the tsunami. Soldiers from the United States and Germany, who are based in Djibouti, assisted aid agencies to deliver basic supplies. As part of the flash interagency appeal of USD 977m made by the UN Secretary-General on 6 January, USD 10m was requested for Somalia. In February, the US government made USD one million available for tsunami relief in Somalia. [1]

Much of the remote 1,000km (600 mile) coast is controlled by various clan-based militias, making obtaining accurate information difficult. Relief officials have been unable to make observation flights because of the fear of being fired upon by anti-aircraft batteries. The transitional Somali government is based in Nairobi, Kenya because the capital city of Mogadishu is too unsafe. Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Ghedi cancelled a trip on 4 January 2005, which would have been his first visit to Somalia since being appointed.

External links

• Remote Somali village reels from latest hardship, USA Today, 6 January 2005
• Somali tsunami victim toll rises, BBC, 5 January 2005
• Somali tsunami death toll climbs, Mail & Guardian, 2 January 2005