Epidemic fears as horn of Africa flooded and homes destroyed

Torrential rains and floods have hit up to 1.8 million people in the Horn of Africa, driving tens of thousands from their homes and threatening to trigger epidemics, UN aid bodies warned yesterday.

In the latest reports of growing disaster around the region, the UNHCR refugee agency said rising waters had uprooted more than 78,000 people in northeast Kenya and completely cut off three refugee camps near Kenya’s border with Somalia.

Heavy rains are forecast to continue into at least December, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.