The Dechatu River is a river of eastern Ethiopia

Ethiopia

Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...

. It rises in the Ahmar Mountains

Ahmar Mountains

The Ahmar Mountains are a range adjacent to the Ethiopian city of Diredawa....

 to flow north through the second largest city in the country, Dire Dawa

Dire Dawa

Dire Dawa is one of two chartered cities in Ethiopia . This chartered city is divided administratively into two woredas, the city proper and the non-urban woreda of Gurgura....

 towards the Awash River

Awash River

The Awash is a major river of Ethiopia. Its course is entirely contained within the boundaries of Ethiopia, and empties into a chain of interconnected lakes that begin with Lake Gargori and end with Lake Abbe on the border with Djibouti, some 100 kilometers from the head of the Gulf of Tadjoura...

, entering the city at . It is unclear if either its flow or river bed eventually reach the Awash. The river appears to lose itself in the Cantur Plain (Buren Meda) north of Dire Dawa.

Floods

The river floods periodically during the June-to-September rainy season. In 2005 around 200 people were killed by floodwaters and crocodiles. A flood in August 2006 killed at least 300, including 200 in the city of Dire Dawa. The city suffered large amounts of damage and thousands of its inhabitants were displaced. Communications infrastructure was damaged and the main road to the capital Addis Ababa

Addis Ababa

Addis Ababa is the capital city of Ethiopia...

was cut off .