A clean-up began in Yemen's rebel-held capital of Sanaa on Tuesday after floodwaters swept through parts of the city, overturning cars and damaging shops.

Heavy rains began on Monday evening and continued overnight, causing dangerously high water levels in some areas, though there were no reports of casualties.

Sanaa, in the country's mountainous north, is prone to flash floods.

The floods can wreak havoc on the country's infrastructure, which is already damaged by more than five years of civil war between the Houthi rebels, in the country's north, and the internationally recognised government based in the south.

The flood could also mean dangers for the country's sanitation system, which is already minimal.

Yemen has had one of the world's largest cholera outbreaks in recent memory and health officials have dreaded the novel coronavirus's eventual appearance in the country.

The crowds at the damaged marketplace show how little equipped the country - the Arab world's poorest - could be if the coronavirus spreads there.

Five years of air offensive by a Saudi-led alliance and ground fighting have destroyed or closed more than half of its health facilities.

Extreme poverty, dire water shortages and a lack of adequate sanitation have made the country a breeding ground for the COVID-19 pandemic.