In brief
- The IFRC and Somali Red Crescent final report on the Qardho flood operation records that the most affected households were settled in high-flood-risk lowlands.
- The report counts 50,000 people affected and 750 shelters or houses destroyed, and it labels those damage figures as assessment estimates.
- The report sets out humanitarian response and beneficiary numbers, not engineering findings, and it does not establish liability for any damage.
Contents
The IFRC and Somali Red Crescent Society final report on the Qardho flood response, issued on 18 December 2020 for an operation that ran from 27 May to 30 October 2020, records that the households worst affected by the flooding of 27 April 2020 were those settled in the high-flood-risk lowlands of Qardho, the regional capital of Karkar Region in Puntland.
What the source records
The report states that heavy rains affected most parts of Somalia from 20 April 2020, and that a downpour over Qardho and its seasonal river catchments on 27 April triggered flooding across a city it gives as 120,000 people, about 20,000 households. It counts at least 50,000 people (about 8,200 households) affected, 22,000 people (about 3,750 households) displaced, and 750 shelters or houses destroyed, and repeats that the most affected households were settled in the high-flood-risk lowlands. The full account is in the IFRC final report.
What it means on site
For anyone planning a build in Qardho, the recorded pattern turns on where a plot sits relative to the seasonal river channels and the ground that takes their overflow. That makes site selection, finished floor level, and the route water takes across the plot the first questions, before blockwork starts. Where a building sits in an area the community and the local authority already know to be flood-prone, a designer can check how the plot drains, where the nearest channel runs, and what the previous rainy season left behind on the walls. Confirm any level or protection detail against the project's specification and engineer, since the report itself describes humanitarian needs, not construction standards.
What the source does not establish
The report is a humanitarian assessment and final response record, and its damage figures are assessment estimates. It does not set out depths, survey levels, drainage design, or any engineering finding about why individual structures performed as they did, and it does not establish individual engineering liability. It describes the situation up to the operation's end on 30 October 2020, so it does not state the present condition of the lowland settlements or of any defence, channel or drainage work. A current site survey, borehole or trial pit log, and the municipal record of the plot would be needed to say what is there now.
What to do next
Ask the Qardho municipal engineer's office what it holds on seasonal watercourses, past flood extents and plot levels near the site. Request the survey and level drawings for the plot from the designer, and walk the ground with the engineer before setting finished floor levels.
Frequently asked questions
What did the IFRC report say about where the worst-hit households were?
The final report states that the most affected households in Qardho were settled in the high-flood-risk lowlands, alongside its figures of 50,000 people affected and 750 shelters or houses destroyed.
Can the IFRC report be used to judge whether a building was built badly?
No. The report is a humanitarian assessment and response record. It does not establish individual engineering liability, and its damage figures are assessment estimates.
Sources
Local reporting: this article is written for building work in Qardho and Puntland. Ground conditions, prices and rules differ between places; confirm the details for your own site.