The number of people killed by floods from heavy rains in Somalia has climbed to 96, state news agency SONNA said on Saturday.

The head of the country’s disaster management agency Mahamuud Moallim, also confirmed the toll when he wrote on X that deaths caused by the recent flood have reached 96.

The country has been battered by relentless heavy rains that began in October, caused by the El Nino and Indian Ocean Dipole weather phenomena.

Both are climate patterns that impact ocean surface temperatures and cause above-average rainfall.

The flooding has been described as the worst in decades and has displaced about 700,000 people, according to the United Nations.

The intense rains have unleashed widespread flooding across the country, triggering displacement and exacerbating an already existing humanitarian crisis caused by years of insurgency.

In neighbouring Kenya, the floods have so far killed at least 76 people and also unleashed widespread displacement, and destruction of roads and bridges.

Several residents are left without shelter, drinking and food supplies, according to the charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).