People from eight houses have been evacuated to temporary shelters after their homes suffered flood damage due to heavy rains in the capital Male’ early Saturday morning, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has said.
Large parts of the island nation had experienced heavy rains, with Male’ the hardest hit, according to Maldives Meteorological Service (MET Office). After several hours of heavy rain, most roads in the capital were flooded, disrupting traffic while several homes had suffered flood damage.
NDMA Chief Executive Hisaan Hassan said multiple requests had come in to put in sandbags to prevent flood damage, adding that the authority had given over 5,000 sandbags to the Male’ City Council to assist the efforts.
Hisaan said the NDMA is trying to contact the island councils to check the extent of the damages suffered due to rain, but no island has thus far reported any need for evacuations.
NDMA Emergency Management Director Faroosha Ali Naseer told PSM news that the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) and Ministry of Cities, Local Government and Public Works are assisting the city council to put up sandbags in 47 houses to prevent flood damage.
Faroosha revealed that NDMA had received over 100 calls requesting for assistance with a dozen houses suffering flood damage. Out of the 12, 32 people from eight houses that suffered the worst damage have now been evacuated to temporary shelters.
Heavy rains, strong winds and strong seas will be expected in various parts of the country in the next few days, MET Office had said, urging people to take immediate precautions for possible damage caused by the bad weather.
According to the MET Office, the current bad weather is being caused by a strong storm in the Bay of Bengal and one to the south of the country.
MET Office has issued white alerts for several parts of the country with strong winds and rough seas forecasted in the next 24 hours.
Authorities have also urged seafarers to take extra precautions and avoid sea travel unless absolutely necessary.