Race against nature: Yemen's fight against floods, storms and casualties – Yemen

Ma'rib, Yemen – It was a typical summer day when Abdullah rode his motorbike and scoured the city of Ma'rib for customers who needed a ride. This was his way of earning a living and supporting his wife and one-year-old daughter, who were patiently waiting for him to return to their accommodation at the Jaw Al Naseem site in Ma'rib.

The morning sky was clear, but soon dark clouds began to gather and a sharp wind began to cut through the air. As the storm approached, it filled him with deep dread.

“I immediately went home to check on my family and help, but the wind was getting stronger,” Abdullah recalls. “I urged my wife to take our daughter to a smaller shelter in the hope that we would be better protected there.”

To their horror, the wind was so strong that it ripped their roof off its foundation and they were thrown to the ground amid flying debris. Tragically, Abdullah's daughter suffered a fatal head injury. In just under 20 minutes, the lives of Abdullah and thousands of other families like his changed forever.

Yemen is one of the countries most affected by climate change, yet the country is ill-prepared to mitigate or adapt to its impacts. In early August, heavy rainstorms and strong winds devastated several governorates and had widespread impacts on over half a million people across the country.

In this difficult context, Ma'rib has become a centre for displacement and has seen a significant influx of families in recent years. Thousands of these families now live in refugee camps and face ongoing challenges. In Ma'rib alone, the recent storms affected nearly 150,000 residents and internally displaced people. The storms destroyed walls, ripped apart shelters and caused significant losses of livestock and property.

“In an instant, everything was destroyed and everything we had worked for was taken away from us,” explains Ali, Abdullah's father. “I lost my granddaughter, my money, my clothes and all my belongings in that storm.”

Following this storm, weeks of torrential rain and flooding caused further damage. Thousands of families saw their homes and shelters destroyed. Public infrastructure, including schools, roads, electricity and health facilities, were devastated by the incessant rains. Dozens of people tragically lost their lives, while many others suffered serious injuries throughout the region.

Ahmed Al Zabidi, Senior Protection Programme Officer of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Ma'rib, had a deeply moving visit to the Alsit site during a protection assessment, where he met a pregnant woman whose life had been drastically affected by the recent storm, heavy rains and floods.

“As she assessed the situation, the woman suddenly began to cry quietly,” Ahmed said. “Through tears, she mourned: 'Oh, my baby, I am so sorry. You died before you saw this world. I did not want to lose you. You were my first baby; your father and I had prepared everything for you, but unfortunately you left before we even had the chance to get to know you.'”

Ahmed waited patiently for her to regain her composure before continuing her story. She was six months pregnant and had been resting in her tent during the storm while her husband was outside checking on the goats. Suddenly she felt the earth shaking beneath her. Alone, without electricity and amid the chaos of her neighbors screaming outside, she was trapped and unable to escape from her shelter. The next moment, the wooden roof of her tent collapsed on her.

When she regained consciousness, she found herself in her neighbor's house, bleeding profusely. Her husband, in deep grief, informed her that she had lost the baby. The weight of her grief was unbearable, one of many devastating losses that many parents and children had to deal with in the wake of the disaster.

Amid the chaos, Jamal Ahmed, an IOM field assistant for Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM), was one of the first responders. He described the scene as one of the most difficult he had ever seen. “The devastation was everywhere. It was overwhelming; we didn't even know where to start,” he says.

The host communities that had opened their homes to the displaced also suffered significant losses. “Women and children huddled under the remains of their houses, shivering in the cold. Even the livestock were not spared from the rain and wind.”

Jamal and his team worked diligently to assess the situation and coordinate with humanitarian partners, doing everything they could to provide as much assistance as possible. However, the situation remains dire as ongoing storms exacerbate the plight of thousands of homeless families.

“Many of these people have been displaced multiple times and have spent years trying to build a new life here,” he says. “The wind destroyed everything they had built in an instant. The families could not find their homes, their belongings, or even their children. It was more than a disaster; it was a nightmare for everyone involved.”

Since the first storm, IOM teams have worked tirelessly to provide emergency shelter, relief items, cash and water, as well as sanitation and hygiene services to affected families. However, the scale of the disaster far exceeds available resources. Watch the video. video.

In response to this overwhelming need, IOM has urgently requested additional funding to support these efforts. For more information or to make a contribution, please visit the full calling.

This story was written by Mennatallah Homaid, IOM Senior Communications Assistant in Yemen.