Qatar Charity (QC) has provided food baskets to 500 families affected by Cyclone Sagar, which hit the coasts of northern Somalia, according to a report by Qatar Tribune.

The aid was distributed immediately after the disaster occurred. The charity is also preparing to distribute more food baskets soon. Director of the QC office in Somalia, Abdel Nour Mirsal said Qatar Charity was the first organization to respond to the relief appeal made by local authorities in Somaliland.

Food baskets were distributed in the village of Bakki and surrounding villages in northern Somalia, targeting families who lost their homes, livestock and property due to Cyclone Sagar, Mirsal said in a statement.

He noted that the food baskets included basic food items such as rice, wheat, sugar, dates and dried milk to be used by affected families in the Holy Month of Ramadan, which coincided with the cyclone.

Mirsal pointed out that Qatar Charity intends to distribute 1,150 additional food baskets to the victims of Cyclone Sagar in the coming week.

The basket is meant to be sufficient for a family for a month. Within three months, three artesian wells as well as a number of surface wells will also be drilled, he added.

Mirsal also said that the Ramadan food aid distributed by QC office during the second half of the Holy Month included those previously affected by floods and drought.

He explained that the office will distribute food baskets to 2,000 families affected by flood in the Hirshabelle State and to people displaced due to drought in Baidoa, in addition to the families of orphans and poor families.

A total of 3,650 food baskets will be distributed during Ramadan, according to a report by The Peninsula. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said 669,000 people had been affected by the cyclone in Somaliland, with numbers likely to rise as information arrives from areas that are now inaccessible.

“80 per cent of livestock in affected areas were killed. Reports indicate that some 700 farms have been destroyed in Somaliland,” UNOCHA said.

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