By Asha Elmi - Reporter
MOGADISHU, 3 October 2026 Somalia is strengthening early warning and evacuation measures ahead of potential heavy rains and flooding linked to El Niño, the Somali Disaster Management Agency (SoDMA) said.
SoDMA Chairman Mahamuud Moallim Abdulle said teams have been deployed across the country to raise awareness and prepare communities.
“Somalis are people who communicate information among themselves,” Abdulle told Dawan Media’s Miizaan podcast aired on Saturday. He said teams were working across districts to share information about emerging risks.
The agency has sent staff to areas the government can reach, with Abdulle saying he personally visited several locations, including Baidoa and Beledweyne, to meet communities and oversee preparedness.
“We sent people wherever the government could reach. I also went to some places, including Baidoa and Beledweyne, where I carried out work and met with communities,” he said.
SoDMA is using media outlets, including Dawan Media, to disseminate information and has engaged religious scholars to deliver warnings through mosques in coordination with the Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs.
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Public awareness will be expanded as the risk approaches, with SoDMA planning to use mobile voice messages, as it did during the 2023 floods. The agency has worked with Hormuud to prepare millions of voice alerts for vulnerable areas.
Abdulle said the main challenge is no longer delivering information but ensuring supplies are available for assistance and emergency response.
“People receive the information, but what comes next — the assistance and relief, the supplies and preparations — that is now the challenge for us, and funding is a constraint,” he said.
Somalia approved a national El Niño preparedness plan for 2026-2027 in September, focusing on early warning, risk monitoring and measures to reduce flood impacts. SoDMA says it has identified evacuation sites and is pre-positioning relief supplies in vulnerable areas.