Damage, Losses and Needs Assessment October 2008 Tropical Storm and Floods, Hadramout and Al-Mahara, Republic of Yemen

Tropical Storm 03B hit Yemen on October 24, 2008. The storm led to severe rain and flooding over the eastern Governorates of Yemen—Hadramout and Al-Mahara—for about 30 hours, resulting in total rainfall of almost 91 mm (versus 5-6 mm in normal periods). As of October 31, 2008, 73 persons were reported to have lost their lives as a result of the floods, 17 people were missing and scores have been injured. The flooding and heavy rain also caused 2,826 houses and huts in both Governorates to be destroyed and 3,679 houses to be partially damaged. Some 25,000 people were displaced as a result, seeking temporary shelter in mosques and schools or with host families. The impact on agricultural land and people’s livelihoods has been particularly devastating. Overall, about 700,000 persons—over 50% of the total population in the affected areas—have had their livelihoods destroyed or significantly affected, of which two-thirds live in Wadi Hadramout.

Part A of this report presents an estimation of the main effects of the disaster. This includes estimating (i) the value of physical assets that were totally or partially destroyed by the disaster; (ii) the losses in economic flows from the temporary absence of those assets; and (iii) the impact
on economic development and social conditions. The estimate of damage and losses presented below is a compilation of data supplied by a joint assessment team and is broken down by sector. The estimated impact of the disaster includes an assessment of the main macro-economic variables, as well as an analysis of the individual and household-level impacts. This provides a wide-ranging overview of the disaster’s effects and impacts, which were used to estimate post-disaster needs, presented in Part B of the report.