"So far 129 people are confirmed dead. We are still looking for more on the outskirts of the city and all along the river from the north to south," Inspector Beniam Fikru, a top police official in Dire Dawa region, said.

The region lies about 500 kilometres (300 miles) east of the capital Addis Ababa.

Ethiopian security forces, aid workers and residents, who scoured for survivors and bodies, said several thousands of civilians were displaced and others reported missing in the Addis Ketema, Genfele, Coca Cola and Aftessa areas, which neighbour the township.

"We have between 2,000 and 3,000 people displaced," Kasahun Debelie, a local Red Cross official, told AFP by telephone.

"With the ICRC (International Committee for the Red Cross) and other government organisations, we are trying to facilitate shelters and other support as the search for more bodies and survivors goes on," he said.

Residents said the casualties of the floods, which are as a result of the June-to-September rainy season, were mainly women and children, many of whom were swept away while asleep in poorly constructed shacks along the river bank in the poverty ravaged region.

"Most of the people in the village known as the 'Coca Cola' area were in bed when the floods hit the area. The search for more bodies is going on with the help of the army and local people," a witness told AFP.

Survivors, who said whole families might have been drowned, hoped the missing people might have escaped to higher grounds when the floods hit.

"We are waiting and hoping that some people might have fled from the area (to higher grounds) to save their life in the middle of the night. Otherwise, it would be a disaster to many families and friends," one survivor, Adugna Lema, told AFP.

The heavy downpour pummelled the area for more than an hour and a half, causing the River Dire Dawa that passes through the town to burst its banks and flood in the region in the early morning hours, according to a witness, Belete Ayalew.

"My home is situated a bit far from the river, I was in bed when I heard people shouting. I opened the door, the water burst in, forcing me to escape to the rooftop from where police rescued me, but my house and property were destroyed," another 45-year-old witness, Abaye Baheru, said.

"While on the rooftop, I saw men, women and children being washed away, while crying for help," Abaye explained.

Witnesses said the floods destroyed more than 100 homes, markets and shops, and swept away livestock and vehicles. The full extent of the damage remained to be assessed.

State media reported that the floods swept the main road linking Dire Wara the neighbouring Harar township and the capital Addis Ababa.

Last year, at least 200 people were killed and more than 260,000 displaced when heavy rains pounded the same region, which lies close to Ethiopia's Somali state.

In those floods, swarms of crocodiles devoured villagers, while others clung on to trees in a desperate attempt to avoid being eaten.

Over the last couple of years, flooding has affected large areas of eastern and southern Ethiopia, displacing tens of thousands of people and causing millions of dollars of damage, particulary in the subsistence agricultural sector, which offers livelihood to many impoverished people.

The floods follow a devastating drought that hit the east African region, threatening the lives of about 15 million people.

Ethiopia, a nation of about 70 million people, has repeatedly been ravaged by natural calamities, notably drought and famine.

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