West And Central Africa: From Worst Food Crisis To Severe Flooding - Cholera outbreaks

[Gert van der Hoek]

West And Central Africa: From Worst Food Crisis To Severe Flooding

Thursday, 21 October 2010

Floods in West and Central Africa have killed at least 377 deaths and affected nearly 1.5 million people since the beginning of the rainy season in June 2010, said the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

2010 saw the largest number of people affected and deaths due to floods, bringing more misery to communities already suffering their worst food crisis in decades, mainly across the Sahel. Now, torrential rains have struck communities across Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without food and shelter.

Countries with the most deaths were Nigeria (118), Ghana (52), Sudan (50), Benin (43), Chad (24), Mauritania (21), Burkina Faso (16), Cameroon (13) and Gambia (12), other countries with fewer than 10 deaths.

The countries with the most affected people are Benin (360 000), followed by Nigeria (300 000), Niger (226 611), Chad (150 000), Burkina Faso (105 481), Sudan (74 970) and Mauritania (50 815), other countries with less than 50 000 people affected.

Fields remain inundated with water containing the bodies of drowned livestock and as a result, villagers already weakened through lack of food are now at risk of diseases such as malaria and cholera. That was the case in Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad where rains prompted an outbreak of cholera, aggravating the situation in Niger and Chad, a country already facing serious food crisis.

In addition, these series of natural catastrophes and bad weather have disrupted the start of the school year in several countries and led to losses in terms of socio-economic, housing and agricultural crops. In 2009, floods have killed 195 people in West Africa and have affected 823 291 people.

http://www.african-bulletin.com/ind...s-to-severe-flooding&catid=1:latest&Itemid=50

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: West And Central Africa: From Worst Food Crisis To Severe Flooding - Cholera outbreaks

West, Central Africa record 1.5 million flood victims

NEWS - AFRICA NEWS

Dakar, Senegal - Some 1.5 million people have been affected by massive flooding in West and Central Africa since the beginning of the 2010 rainy season, according to the latest report from the regi onal office of the UN Office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs (OCHA) issued in Dakar.

The document, made available to PANA, said the rampaging flood had already killed 377 people, disrupted academic year in several countries and caused the loss of socio-economic infrastructure, houses and agricultural crops.

Benin is the most affected country with 360,000 victims and 43 dead, followed by Nigeria which recorded the heaviest death toll of 118.

Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso, Sudan and Mauritania are also among the countries heavily hit by the flood.

The flooding has also aggravated the food crisis situation in Niger and Chad.

In countries such as Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad, the persistent rains have caused an cholera epidemics, OCHA said.

OCHA stressed the need for the affected countries to find durable solutions and strengthen their capacities to prevent disasters such as flooding and others resulting from the effects of climate change.