East Africa floods once-in-a-century event - UN

The UN has described floods that have uprooted hundreds of thousands of people in Somalia and neighbouring countries in East Africa as a once-in-a-century event.

UN officials said more than 1.5 million people in Somalia could be affected by the heavy seasonal downpours, which have been made worse by the combined impact of two climate phenomena - the El Niño effect and the Indian Ocean Dipole.

Heavy rains beginning in early October followed months of severe drought in the region.

More than 300,000 people have been forced from their homes in Somalia and towns and villages have been inundated across northern Kenya.