Across West Africa, thousands flee flooding

In Niger, thousands were made homeless by flooding in the uranium-rich region of Agadez when their homes collapsed after the river Kora burst its banks. An official source said at least two bodies had been found and that three people were missing. Ali Hamidou, a craftsman and resident of the town of Agadez, said: “This […]

In Niger, thousands were made homeless by flooding in the uranium-rich region of Agadez when their homes collapsed after the river Kora burst its banks. An official source said at least two bodies had been found and that three people were missing. Ali Hamidou, a craftsman and resident of the town of Agadez, said: “This is one of the worst disasters in the history of Agadez.”
Seasonal rains from June regularly cause fatal floods and mudslides in West Africa. In 2007, about 300 people were killed and more than 800,000 were affected when homes, crops and infrastructure were washed away.
“The rains have completely destroyed my house,” said Jaafar Beshir, his feet drenched by a river of mud, just one of thousands of residents of a Khartoum suburb forced out by violent storms. “I built this little mud wall to protect us from the floods in the roads,” said the young father of five, who comes from the Nuba mountains in central Sudan and today lives in the impoverished neighbourhood of Soba Aradi.
Christians, Muslims, southerners, Darfuris, merchants and servicemen from the four corners of the vast African country all live in the suburb dotted with mudbrick houses, without proper sanitation, running water or electricity.
The downpours — the heaviest in decades — transformed roads into rivers, gouged craters from the rare stretches of tarmac, severed roads and flattened thousands of homes. “The roof of my house caved in after only 30 minutes of rain,” said Mustafa, who was forced to put together a makeshift wooden shelter until he can rebuild the parts of his modest home that were destroyed.
The government of the State of Khartoum has announced school closures because of the rains and has also promised aid to the victims, but scepticism about help remains high. “I can only count on myself to fix the damage,” said Insaf, a teacher in a kindergarten which was damaged in the storms.