Almost 760,000 people affected by flooding in the Sahelian zone

In the district of Keur Massar, near Dakar, September 8, 2020. REUTERS / Zohra Bensemra

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According to the UN Humanitarian Coordination Office (Ocha), nearly 760,000 people have been affected by the floods that have hit West Africa and part of Central Africa for several weeks.

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Last year, heavy rains had already caused significant flooding, affecting more than a million people in eleven countries.

Ocha fears that this figure will be exceeded this year because the rainy season is not over.

Showers have been falling for a week in

, the Burkinabè government, which reports thirteen dead declared a state of natural disaster on Wednesday.

And we do not know the number of victims.

In Ghana, too, torrential rains and rising water levels have killed several people in the north of the country.

Similar situation in Nigeria where the northern states are the most affected.

Ocha counted 30 dead there, the state of Borno alone counts 26,000 victims.

Alarming situation in Sudan

But it is

these floods in the sub-region with 330,000 people affected, 65 dead and 34,000 houses destroyed, according to figures released Wednesday by the Nigerien Minister of Humanitarian Action and Disaster management.

Further east, Chad and Cameroon are also suffering from rising water levels, but it is in Sudan that the situation is most alarming.

The Sudanese Minister of Foreign Affairs estimates that

by these floods which have caused the death of 101 people.

Consequence: the state of emergency was declared Friday for three months across the country.

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• Africa

• Natural disasters

• Severe weather

• Nigeria

• Niger

• Sudan

• Burkina Faso

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