Torrential rains across southwestern Yemen and the country’s capital of Sanaa have triggered flashfloods and collapsed homes, killing at least 38 people over the past two days, officials said Thursday.
Yemen’s annual rainy season usually starts in May and lasts until August but this year, the Arab world’s most impoverished country has seen heavier-than-usual rains accompanied by thunderstorms. In an e-mail sent to The Associated Press, the UN agency said it was monitoring closely the situation in Sanaa, as well as in the town of Zabid, a former capital of Yemen, and the old walled city of Shibam. Along with the European Union, the UN agency has restored more than 200 historic buildings in the heart of Sanaa over the past four years but more remains to be done, it said.