Yemen: Lahj witnesses devastating floods, the worst since 1982, resulting in significant losses.

Arab Sea Newspaper - Special

**Arab Sea - Reports:** Large amounts of torrential rain flowed into the Tuban Valley in Lahj Governorate, in its small and large branches, yesterday, Saturday, irrigating hundreds of agricultural lands, causing damage to other agricultural lands, in addition to damaging agricultural facilities belonging to a number of associations, as well as besieging homes in Dar Al-Manasara and a number of neighboring villages in the Al-Fayoush area, damaging homes in Al-Wahatt city, and cutting off main roads in many villages of the Great Valley as a result of the torrential rains. Citizens said that the flow of torrents in the Tuban Valley has not been seen since 1982, which aroused a state of fear and panic among the residents who still remember the disaster of the torrents in that period. Farmers pointed out that the torrents caused the erosion of many agricultural lands and solar energy equipment, flooded some wells, in addition to cutting off roads leading to the villages of the Great Valley, Al-Thalab, Al-Shadheef, and many villages located on the banks of the small and large valley. Residents mentioned that the amounts of flowing torrents, which were nearly 6 meters high, besieged the homes of citizens on the outskirts of Al-Wahatt city and Dar Al-Manasara. The Secretary-General of the Agricultural Association, Mujahid Hassan Yahya, said that the flow of torrents brought back memories of the 1982 torrents, which caused great damage to farmers and citizens, pointing to the damage to agricultural facilities in the Mujahid, Lafih, and Al-Faqih areas, in addition to other facilities belonging to a number of agricultural associations in the Tuban Directorate. He explained that the torrents entered many citizens' homes on the outskirts of Al-Wahatt city, attributing this to some citizens building in the path of the torrents despite previous warnings not to build in it, which also led to the cutting off of the main road linking Aden to Tor Al-Baha - Taiz. He pointed out that the torrents besieged homes in the Dar Al-Manasara area and the neighboring villages, without recording any incidents until the news was written, and also caused the erosion of a car and agricultural tillage for a farmer in Kod Al-Dais, in addition to the collapse of the Al-Arais bridge in Al-Anad city, and the fall of a number of electricity poles. For his part, the Director of the Lahj Agriculture Office, Abdulmalik Naji Obaid, confirmed that the office was fully prepared for the agricultural season despite the scarcity of resources, pointing out that the flowing torrents were largely benefited from despite the damage they caused in a number of locations. He pointed out that these torrents are among the largest torrents witnessed by the Tuban Valley in years, with continuous monitoring of their flow. The Director of the Lahj Agriculture Office, Abdulmalik Naji Obaid, explained that the office is working to address any problems that may occur, according to official correspondence, pointing out that specialized committees will, in the coming days, assess the damage caused by the torrents in the agricultural sector, and submit it to the governorate leadership and the competent authorities for treatment. He added that the agriculture teams are currently following the movement of torrents in the valley from the field, and are working to transport water to the end of the valley to benefit from it in irrigating the arid lands. In Al-Houta city, heavy rains caused torrential floods and swamps mixed with sewage, without recording any major incidents or damage, except for rainwater entering some homes, and the collapse of the roof of a popular house in one of the neighborhoods. The problem of rainwater drainage remains one of the most prominent problems that the city has suffered from for decades, as the sewage department in Lahj Governorate began to move to pump water from the locations of its accumulation after the rainfall. In Tor Al-Baha Directorate, the flow of torrents in the Maaden Valley was renewed, which led to the erosion of many homes in the Al-Khattabiya, Al-Sumaita, and other areas, in addition to landslides threatening homes adjacent to the valley. A local source in the directorate said that dozens of homes on the verge of collapse located on the sides of the valley, in addition to besieged homes and their families, are facing certain death at these moments, and the torrent is still flowing since dawn until now for more than five hours in the Maaden Valley in Tor Al-Baha, Lahj Governorate. Citizens in the directorate found the body of a citizen swept away by the torrents, who is still unidentified. The head of the Al-Arbadi Cooperative Agricultural Association, Ahed Muhammad Sultan, announced that the Al-Arbadi area in Tor Al-Baha Directorate has become a disaster area after it was swept by torrential rains coming from the Maaden Valley, and the fertile agricultural lands have turned into a deep valley after they were eroded, while the Al-Arbadi crossing was suspended in the air at a height of several meters, and there was great destruction of agricultural lands and crops. The association confirmed that the torrents led to the uprooting of dozens of lands planted with vegetables, citrus fruits, and corn, with the burial of the other part of the crops under silt and stones, and the impact of solar energy systems and vital wells that farmers depend on for irrigation, which made individual reform efforts impossible without urgent government intervention. The head of the association, Ahed Muhammad Sultan, pointed out that "the Al-Arbadi crossing" is no longer as it was a source of soil and groundwater renewal, but has become threatened with complete collapse, which threatens the food security of the entire Tor Al-Baha Directorate," stressing that what remains of the agricultural lands needs urgent protection and immediate engineering emergencies before they are completely destroyed. Many specialists called on the government to take urgent action to protect agricultural lands from erosion in a number of directorates of the governorate in order to preserve the agricultural area so that what is undesirable does not happen in the event of inaction and lack of speed of action.