By Abdalle Ahmed Mumin and Jason Burke
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[Ciraa Farah Ali] knew the level of the Shabelle River was rising but had little fear that it would burst its banks. Late in October, swollen by unseasonal rains, it did. Ali had no time to gather her belongings and only just managed to escape with her family.
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Beledweyne was worst hit. Its main hospital was shut after the main wards were inundated. With farmland and roads damaged or destroyed, communities already brought to the brink of disaster by drought and conflict are now threatened by malnutrition and disease.
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The Somalia NGO Consortium, a coalition of more than 80 humanitarian NGOs, has said the country faces disaster, with as many as 6.3 million people without sufficient supplies of basic foodstuffs.
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“The crises occurring within Somalia’s borders are a global responsibility. Climatic shocks are not a local phenomenon but a manifestation of the growing environmental emergency,” said Nasra Ismail, the consortium director.
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