Anton Breeve form Medecins Sans Frontieres in the Netherlands, centre,, rows a boat together with a Somali gunman as they bring two children with cholera to the Medecins Sans Frontieres hospital near the village of Marere in southern Somalia, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2006 after the Juba river burst its banks. Fears of a looming war in Somalia are hampering relief efforts for up to one million people hit by severe flooding, a senior U.N. official said Friday. Eric Laroche, the U.N.'s humanitarian chief for Somalia, said a "corridor of peace" is needed so aid can reach 400,000 people who have fled their homes to escape the worst flooding in a decade. (AP Photo/Karel Prinsloo)

Nairobi, December 01. 2006 – About 250 people have been killed and 100,000 have lost their homes as catastrophic floods ravaged East Africa, aid workers said Friday as rains continued to pound the impoverished region.

Floods have hit Kenya, Somalia, Rwanda and Ethiopia, affecting more than 1.8 million people, according to the U.N. refugee agency. Weather experts warn that the punishing rains could continue through December in a region where a long drought has left the soil so dry it is unable to absorb the deluge.

Disease from poor sanitation is also taking its toll as submerged villages remain cut off and trucks laden with food and medicine are unable to reach survivors, according to the U.N. food agency.

East Africa is one of the poorest regions in the world where most people live on less than $1 a day. It is home to more than 200 million people and regularly sees droughts and famine.

The U.N. is expected to launch an appeal Dec. 5 for an extra $17 million for flood victims. The organization already has received $10 million to help.

Some 41 people have been killed in Kenya and more than 700,000 people are affected, the Kenyan Red Cross said. The Health Ministry recently issued a cholera alert, the U.N added.

In neighboring Somalia, the death toll rose to 116 after 20 people died in the north of the country in an outbreak of diarrhea, the U.N. said. Some 15 people died in floods in Rwanda, officials said.

More than 80 people have died in Ethiopia, while 361,000 people have been affected in the southeast of the country.

Source: The Associated Press