Flooding from heavy seasonal rains leaves 16 dead in Yemen

A vehicle drives through a flooded street following heavy rains in the old quarter of Sana'a, Yemen. Heavy rains and associated floods through Yemen have left at least 16 people dead and damaged dozens of homes and roads. EPA

Yemeni children walk through a flooded street following heavy rains in the old quarter of Sana'a, Yemen. Heavy rains and associated floods through Yemen have left at least 16 people dead and damaged dozens of homes and roads. EPA

Yemenis ride a motorcycle through a flooded street following heavy rains in the old quarter of Sana'a, Yemen. EPA

A Yemeni pushes a wheelbarrow through a flooded street following heavy rains in the old quarter of Sana'a, Yemen. EPA

Yemenis stand on a pedestrian bridge under the rain in the old quarter of Sana'a, Yemeni. EPA

Vehicles drive through a flooded street following heavy rains in the old quarter of Sana'a, Yemen. EPA

Yemeni children walk through a flooded street following heavy rains in the old quarter of Sana'a, Yemen. EPA

Yemeni children walk through a flooded street following heavy rains in the old quarter of Sana'a, Yemen. EPA

Yemeni children ride a vehicle through a flooded street following heavy rains in the old quarter of Sana'a, Yemen. EPA

Floods swept through Yemen amid heavy seasonal rains, leaving at least 16 people dead and flooding dozens of homes, security officials said on Thursday.

The casualties were reported in eastern Hadramawt and southern Shabwa provinces, where it began raining late on Wednesday, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to brief the media.

Yemen’s rainy season runs from April to the end of August.

At least 25 houses were flooded and hundreds of livestock killed in Hadramawt, the officials said. Yemeni military planes have been rescuing residents trapped in valleys by the flooding.

On Wednesday, Yemen’s National Meteorological Center issued a statement warning Yemenis to stay away from flood ducts in affected areas and to take necessary precautions.

The Arab world’s poorest country has been war-torn since 2015 when a Saudi-led coalition launched a military campaign against Iran-backed Houthi rebels who led an insurgency against an internationally recognised government a year earlier and overran the country’s north.

Yemen is located at the southern corner of the Arabian Peninsula, overlooking the Red and the Arabian Sea.