UN launches appeal for Somalia flood relief  GENEVA, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations launched an appeal on Wednesday for 18 million U.S. dollars to help hundreds of thousands of Somali people affected by floods and in acute need for assistance.

    Somalia, one of the world's poorest countries, has been hit by the worst flooding in recent history, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement.

    Floods have displaced entire communities, submerged villages, destroyed granaries, cut off feeder roads, blocked or damaged irrigation and flood relief infrastructures and destroyed thousands of hectares of farmland in the country, the statement said.

    Eric Laroche, the UN resident and humanitarian coordinator for Somalia, said the flooding added to the woes of the country, which had been plagued by 16 years of civil war, the absence of an effective central government, basic services or infrastructures, as well as a devastating drought last year.

    "The humanitarian crisis of the Somali people, exhausted by years of conflict and disaster, is now deepening," he said in the statement.

    Up to now, some 350,000 people in Somalia, mostly in southern and central areas of the country, have been seriously affected by the floods.

    In the worst-case scenario, up to 900,000 could be affected over the coming weeks if persistent rains continue, the statement said.

    The UN said its financial appeal was meant to help provide water and sanitation, food, education, health care and other assistance in the country.