Thousands Flee Flooding In Ethiopia

Floods have forced 50,000 people to flee their homes in northern Ethiopia, Ethiopian media reported Sunday.

The flooding in the Afar region began Friday when the Awash River overflowed its banks. Unusually heavy rains have been reported in the region for the last six weeks.

Roads were blocked and schools and clinics were closed, Abdullah Ali, a member of the Afar Autonomous Regional Council, told the Ethiopia News Agency.

Last week, Ethiopian radio said another 30,000 people had been forced to flee to higher ground because of flooding farther up the Awash. The river flows from the central Ethiopian highlands northeast through the Afar region to join Lake Abbe near Djibouti.