At least 77 people killed and 35,000 families affected by torrential rains in Yemen

The United Nations estimates that at least 77 people have been killed and 35,000 families have been affected by torrential rains that pounded Yemen between July 27 and August 10, yet another crisis in a country ravaged by war and famine, considered the world’s largest humanitarian catastrophe.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the country (OCHA Yemen) further understands that the rains have affected 85 municipalities in 16 governorates of the country.

The UN fears, according to forecasts, that the rains will continue through at least the next week, until August 20.

The coming heavy rains, OCHA Yemen anticipates, will affect an additional 20,000 people in the lowlands of the governorates of Hodeida, Mahuit, Hadramaut, Haya, Lahj, Rayma, Sada, Sana’a (where the country’s capital is located), Shabwah and Taiz.

Yemen’s Huthi rebels, meanwhile, have recorded that at least 91 people have been killed and some 25,000 families have been affected by torrential rains and flooding in areas under their control, starting with the capital, Sana’a.

At least 140 buildings have collapsed and 5,699 have been damaged by the floods, spokesman for the so-called Huthi Humanitarian Council, Talat al Sharjabi, said late Saturday, in remarks carried by the rebels’ news portal, Al Masira.