Al Jazeera and the UN have reported on catastrophic floods which are affecting several nations:
• Chad—the government has declared a state of emergency; the flooding has affected 636 localities in 18 out of 23 provinces in the country and 1 million people. The floods have destroyed more than 465,000 hectares of crops and over 19,000 heads of livestock.
Hamid Abakar Souleymane, a hydrologist at Chad’s National Meteorological Agency, reported, according to Al Jazeera, that Lake Chad had risen above its banks, causing flooding in all three of the countries that border it—Niger, Nigeria and Cameroon. The lake is fed by a number of tributaries and the two main rivers in Chad—the Chari and the Logone. According to the United Nations, 5.5 million Chadians need “emergency humanitarian aid,” while the World Bank says 42% of the 16 million population live in poverty.
• Cameroon—the far north area has been devastated by floods, caused by overflowing rivers and breached dikes. About 43,000 people have been affected, with many not wanting to leave their homes. Emergency care workers are picking up people house by house, in manually-propelled pirogues—small, canoe-type boats which can hold perhaps three adults and one child.
