Report

Congo-B: Brazzaville hit by severe flooding

The relentless rains of recent days have caused severe flooding in the Congolese capital, Brazzaville. Many homes are flooded in several areas of the city. Landslides caused by rainwater swept away several houses. Faced with the disaster, the government decided to act.

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In the "Trois Poteaux" neighborhood in the north of Brazzaville, houses are destroyed by landslides caused by rainwater, January 1, 2024. © Loïcia Martial/RFI

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With our correspondent in Brazzaville, Loïcia Martial

The Congo River, which borders Brazzaville, is experiencing an unprecedented flood. In some places, he got out of bed. All the sandbanks are submerged as well as the rocks. People in the southern districts of the city are worried.

« 

We're in the water. With a lot of families, we're all in the water. Our feet are in the water, we don't do anything anymore," complains a father.

« 

As for the houses, they are mostly flooded. We live in difficult conditions. We are here in my room, the water has spoiled everything. We can't even watch the news anymore," laments another head of the family.

Further north of the city, in neighbourhoods such as Don Bosco and Trois Poteaux, landslides caused by rainwater have washed away residential houses and even graves in an old cemetery. The inhabitants of these neighbourhoods oscillate between dismay and fear.

«

Good! Even if there are epidemics in Brazzaville, we live with it. There are garbage cans here and there. We're in the know-how," says a desperate man.

« 

It's disarray. The houses are gone. We are in a neighborhood that is practically devastated. We are left to our own devices," adds another.

Local NGOs have called on the public authorities to assist the victims of the floods.

The government announced, during its last Council of Ministers of 2023, that it would release 2.4 billion CFA francs to help the victims.

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