In a statement released here Thursday, the UN refugee agency noted the tidal wave had badly affected large parts of the coastalarea in northeast Somalia although it was not as great as in partsof Asia.

"The catastrophe came on top of several years of drought, flooding earlier this year, and the abject poverty that prevails throughout the country. We need to act fast," said Ivana Unluova, acting head of UNHCR Somalia.

UNHCR staff members in Somalia are now working to make an initial distribution of plastic sheeting, mattresses, blankets, and kitchen utensils to some 5,000 households along the coastline in areas worst hit by the tsunami.

Up to 200 Somalis were killed and many more are missing after the tsunami disaster. The efforts to assess the full extent of thedamage are being hampered by the poor transport and communication networks, which also affect the delivery of emergency relief.

The tidal waves struck the Somali coast late December as the effect of a series of strong undersea Sumatra earthquakes hit the east African coast.

The earthquake, measuring at 8.7 on the Richter Scale, was registered on Dec. 26, 2004, west of the island of Sumatra, triggering tsunamis, or tidal waves, in south and southeast Asia.

At least 160,000 people in Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Maldives, Thailand and Malaysia have been killed in the disaster.