The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is mounting an urgent response to severe flooding that has swept across southern Yemen. More than 100,000* people have been affected by flash floods, triggered by torrential rains, that have destroyed homes – including camps for already displaced families – and left farmland submerged.

Critical infrastructure such as roads, power lines, and water and sanitation facilities have also been severely damaged, cutting off communities from essential services and forcing thousands into secondary displacement. 

The IRC warns that with more heavy rain expected, the risk of further flooding threatens to displace even more families and cause additional suffering to vulnerable communities already at the epicenter of a devastating hunger crisis.  

These extreme weather events—compounded by ongoing conflict and a collapsing economy—now risk disrupting agricultural production and cutting families off from both markets and humanitarian aid. 

Children, the elderly, and displaced families face the greatest risk of rising hunger, while communities are also exposed to new dangers from water-borne diseases and explosive remnants of war unearthed by the floods. 

Isaiah Ogolla, IRC’s Acting Country Director in Yemen, said: 

“Southern Yemen is already in the grips of a severe food crisis and these floods have further deepened the emergency. 

Some families told us they had even started collecting wild plants to keep their children fed, as every other coping strategy was used up. Flash floods have now washed away homes and crops, leaving many with nothing to return to. 

With farmland submerged and markets cut off, vulnerable families are losing the few remaining sources of food and income they depend on. It is absolutely urgent that we scale up support to help people survive, recover, and rebuild their lives.” 

In response to the floods, the IRC has launched emergency operations in the hardest-hit areas of Abyan, Lahj, Taiz and Aden. 

These governorates are also facing emergency levels of food insecurity, with families there experiencing severe food shortages and high levels of malnutrition. 

IRC teams are delivering cash assistance, essential supplies such as mattresses, blankets and cooking utensils, and hygiene kits to families affected by the floods, and continue to provide support to those affected by rising food insecurity.  

While the full extent of the destruction is still being assessed, it is already clear that the toll on communities will be devastating. The IRC calls on the international community to stand in solidarity with those most affected by supporting both the urgent humanitarian response and long-term investments in climate-resilient agriculture, infrastructure, and livelihoods in Yemen.