Tropical Cyclone Gati, which made landfall on 22 November in Puntland’s Bari region in Somalia, has displaced 70,000 people, the UN says.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in news dispatch that the heavy rains and strong winds triggered flash floods along coastal and inland areas.
The hardest hit were 13 villages in the region.
Through its media wing, Reliefweb, the UN agency quoting local authorities, said eight people have been killed and an unknown number injured.
In Xaafuun and Hurdiya villages, about 15,000 people have been displaced to higher grounds within their neighbourhoods.
Massive damage to property and roads is reported. Telecommunication services have also been affected, especially in Xaafuun, Hurdiya and Baarmadowe.
In addition, shipping and fishing activities along the coastal areas of Bari and the Gulf of Aden have been disrupted, Reliefweb said in a situation update.
An estimated 30 fishermen who were at sea before the cyclone alert was issued were yet to be accounted for by Monday, 23 November.
The FAO-Somalia Water and Land Information Management (SWALIM) warned that the severity of the storm could increase as it passes over Somalia.
According to SWALIM, the storm poses an immediate threat to the shipping lane that links Somalia and the Gulf states.
Rapid assessments are being planned to determine actual needs and humanitarian partners are mobilising prepositioned stocks to assist affected people.
Local authorities and humanitarian partners are mobilising resources to assist people who have been hardest hit by the storm.
Humanitarian partners and Puntland authorities are planning responses beginning with a rapid assessment of needs in the affected areas.
In Somaliland, the National Disaster Preparedness and Food Reserve Authority has circulated precautionary messages and coastal guards are on stand by in case of evacuation.
In the coastal areas of Galmudug, local authorities and humanitarian partners are monitoring the situation.
