©FAO/Arete/Jamal Osman, Ahmed Abdulahi Wasuge, his niece and his nephews come together at a house in Elgal village where Ahmed and his family moved to due to the floods in Beledweyne Hiran, Somalia. 10 December 2023.

Amid raging water levels that threatened to submerge his home, and sweep away his family and belongings, Abdullahi Ahmed Wasuge, from Beledweyne, was fast running out of options. He knew that although his area faces recurrent floods, this one was like no other! In most cases, the barrage of floods often strikes before the harvesting period, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. Before the floods, his and neighbors’ phones had received messages warning of the impending floods. This led the whole community to take proactive steps to relocate to safer areas, based on information they had received.

This is the story of Abdullahi Ahmed Wasuge, together with his family - comprising his eight children and parents.  These communities were targeted with information shared by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), through its – Somalia Water and Land Information Management unit (SWALIM).

“The warnings were helpful. While we could not do much about the farms, the warnings from media or Hormud (Mobile Company) made us vigilant about our houses, allowing us to move easily when the floods arrived’’ said Abdullahi. With rising flood waters in Hiran Beladweyne, he and his family relocated to Elgal Village for safety.

Through the SWALIM information systems, communities were warned well in advance about impending floods and were thus able to stay out of danger. Before and during the season, SWALIM distributed information packages warning of dangers to avoid and advising about issues like the importance of protecting riverbanks.

Carabo Abdi Tifow, also managed to flee to safety with his family. “We received warnings on our mobile phones, we listened and moved.  This saved our lives.”

The timely sharing of the early warning messages was thanks to the support received from the British Embassy in Mogadishu (BEM) under the “Badbaado (safety)” project, which is part of FAO’s multi-donor “Anticipating El Niño: preparedness, mitigation and response” programme. The BEM-funded project seeks to mitigate, prepare for, and respond to the threat of severe flooding and humanitarian disaster during the country’s second major rainy season between October and December 2023.

Under this project, early warning systems were activated in partnership with government and local responders along the Shabelle and Juba rivers, with messages transmitted to communities through local radio networks, SMS services, and official channels to inform early action and save lives. FAO also coordinated with local authorities and community groups to support training on evacuation planning and supported critical flood defense infrastructure works.

FAO estimates that river embankments and dykes in Beledweyne successfully held back the water for approximately five days. Thanks to early warning messaging and Higher Ground maps provided by SWALIM, 90 percent of the population was evacuated on time and knew where to find safety. Flash flood alerts significantly reduced loss of life, with only a fraction of casualties recorded compared to previous similar disasters – approximately 2,300 casualties in 1997 versus 130 casualties (Kenya-Ethiopia-Somalia) in 2023.