Feydhoo lawmaker files for emergency measures over storm damage

Feydhoo MP Mohamed Nihad, on Monday, submitted an emergency motion to the Parliament calling for emergency measures to mitigate the damage to houses and other private property amid torrential rain and thunderstorms across Maldives.

The emergency motion was accepted into the Parliament for debate with the vote of 44 lawmakers.

Nihad’s emergency motion urges the authorities not to treat climate emergencies as a joke, and to prioritize efforts to protect Maldivian islands and the property of the Maldivian people from adverse effects of climate change.

He also called for the authorities to take emergency measures to mitigate the damage to the private property of people, especially the people of Addu City, and provide them with financial support amid the current spell of bad weather which has been affecting Maldives.

Torrential rain and thunderstorms have resulted in extensive flooding in Addu City, with Feydhoo identified as the worst-hit island.

Nihad said that 544 houses in Feydhoo had reported flood damage.

Islands outside of Addu City have also reported damages.

Maldives Meteorological Service has attributed the current spell of bad weather affecting Maldives to the beginning of the Hulhangu (South West) Monsoon, worsened by the formation of Cyclone Amphan in the Bay of Bengal.