Foakaidhoo flooded after hours of heavy rainfall

Foakaidhoo island, located in the northern Shaviyani Atoll of Maldives is currently experiencing severe flooding after hours of heavy rainfall.

Local reports suggest that the island is currently knee-deep in water, with many houses also affected by the water. Images from the island show living rooms and bedrooms flooded, with furniture also partially submerged.

Foakaidhoo’s Island Council President Ahmed Asif told Mihaaru that the the whole island is flooded after two-hours of non-stop rainfall.

“It’s been two hours since it started raining. Now the floods in some areas are more than two feet deep,” he said this afternoon.

Asif also reported that a total of 15 houses have reported being affected by the water and that the two feet deep water is mainly in the northern part of the island. However, houses located in the south of the island have also made reports of being affected by the flood.

As a remedy, the Island Council, with the assistance of Maldives Police Service (MPS) and locals, is now working to place sandbags to prevent water from entering the houses.

Effort is also being made to expedite the drainage of the floods by carving a path leading into the wetlands of the island, with the help of an excavator.

The council is also working on evaluating the damage sustained in terms of property, and that information will be relayed to the National Disaster Management Center (NDMC), said Asif.

Maldives has two primary monsoons, Iruvai (Northeast) and Hulhan’gu (Southwest). Iruvai is the dry and runny period while Hulhan’gu is the wet and rainy season, which will being during the first two week’s of May.

Maldives Meteorological Center (MET) reports that the rough weather experienced in the Maldives is due to the transitioning of monsoons.