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NAIROBI, 9 Aug 2006 (IRIN) - Floods displaced hundreds of people and destroyed at least 5,000 hectares of farmland in Somalia's Middle Shabelle region around Jowhar, the regional capital, when the Shabelle river burst its banks last week, local officials said on Wednesday. "Some of the villagers were about to harvest [crops] when the river broke its banks," Usman Haji Abdullahi, a member of the regional emergency committee, said. "Some families have lost everything." Heavy rainfall in neighbouring Ethiopia has caused the rivers downstream in Somalia to swell, causing the flooding. A local journalist, Muhammad Ibrahim Malimow, told IRIN on Wednesday that the Shabelle river burst its banks, flooding at least 15 villages around Jowhar, 90 km northwest of Mogadishu. "The worst affected are the nearby villages of Bardhere, Mangay and Tuugarey," he said. "All three villages are completely cut off." The villagers have moved to higher ground where property has not been affected by the rising river water, Abdullahi said. The emergency committee is trying to build up the embankment of the river with sandbags to prevent more flooding. "Our priority is to first assist the marooned villagers and then to try to avert any more breaches of the river banks," Abdullahi said. "We have asked for an initial 25,000 empty bags for sand to be used to reinforce the banks of the river," he said. He also appealed for food assistance for the families who have lost their crops. The Shabelle’s water levels were still rising, leading to fears of more flooding, Abdullahi said. "If the river rises any more, even Jowhar town could be affected," he added. Abdullahi said the situation was exacerbated by the fact that since the collapse of the Somali government in 1991, no one has been able "to de-silt the riverbed or manage the sluice gates on the rivers or adjoining canals". Farmers had also cut into river embankments to irrigate their land, which contributes to the seasonal flooding, he added. The UN World Food Programme said it was in close contact with its office in Mogadishu, the Somali capital. "We are monitoring the situation very closely and are ready with relief assistance as needed," Leo van der Velden, the WFP acting country director for Somalia, told IRIN on Wednesday. WFP, he added, had stocks in place in both Mogadishu and Merka, 100 km south.