ADDIS ABABA — Nearly 12,000 people have been displaced and one person has died in western Ethiopia in flash floods over the weekend, an official said Tuesday.

“As of now, we only know that 11,886 people have been displaced and one killed from the flood that resulted from Sunday’s heavy rainfall,” Ojulu Bach, head of disaster prevention program in the Gambela region, said.

Ojulu said that both the toll and the number of displaced could rise as rescue teams had not accessed all those affected.

“The field teams are using boats and whatever necessary to rescue the people in danger,” he said. “The numbers could be higher after our teams conclude their search.”

Earlier this month, some 7,000 people were affected by floods after heavy rains pounded southern Ethiopia for more than a week.

The rainy season began in early June in the Ethiopian Highlands and is due to last until the end of September.

Last year, more than 600 people were killed and hundreds of thousands affected by unusually heavy floods that ravaged several regions in the Horn of African nation.