More than 40 houses in Feydhoo affected by Addu floods

National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has revealed that the current bad weather and floods in the southern most city of Maldives, Addu has affected more than 40 households in Feydhoo district of the city.

According to data published by the Maldives Meteorological Service (MET), the city experienced 167.7 millimeters of rainfall yesterday, which resulted in roads and houses flooding.

As a result, five households were deemed to have been in unlivable conditions last night and the residents from two houses were moved to temporary shelter, while the other people who lived in the other three houses moved in with relatives.

Locals affected by the situation took to social media to express their dissatisfaction with the City Council’s action last night, highlighting that their plight has not changed despite the same households being affected every time it rains in the city.

“So, [the] council’s job is distributing sandbags with the help of police or MNDF after the damage has been caused and collect pictures?” one angry netizen wrote. “Instead of panicking when it rains, they need to take preventative measures – especially when people’s property is being damaged like this,” they added.

“We were in the same situation before the drainage systems were installed. We were in the same situation before the roads were developed. We were in the same situation before the wetlands were reclaimed,” another wrote adding that they are affected by floods two to three times a year.

MET forecasted bad weather for the southern region of Maldives yesterday, first with a white alert (heavy rain and thunderstorms), which was then escalated to a yellow alert (torrential rain and thunderstorms).

As for today, the weather is still expected to be gloomy with rainfall predicted both in the southern and northern parts of the country. However, seas are expected to be relatively calm during this time, with winds blowing from southwest and west between five and fifteen miles per hour.

Maldives is currently entering the wet Hulhan’gu (southwest) monsoon which typically extends from mid-May to November, while the sunnier Iruvai (northeast) monsoon begins in January and lasts until March.