More than 600 killed in Nigeria’s worst flooding in a decade; millions more left in droughts: U.N.
Aerial view of damage in Jos, northern Nigeria, after heavy rainfall in the northeast, during a week of heavy rains that struck the region. Photo: Associated Press/Sunday Alamba
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Nigeria’s army says around 660,000 people have been affected by last month’s flooding
Up to 5.7 million people live in areas that have been submerged; around 90 percent of the country’s schools, health centers, markets and homes have been destroyed
The floods, the worst since 2007, have killed at least 600 people and displaced a further 200,000
The flooding is a direct result of heavy rains in March and April that swept across Nigeria’s northeast, washing away houses and forcing schools to close
(CNN) — The Nigeria’s army said Saturday that more than 660,000 people have been affected by last month’s flooding, bringing the country’s total number of dead to 658.
The floods, the worst since 2007, have killed at least 600 people and displaced a further 200,000. Another 300 people are missing, police said.
The floods are a direct result of heavy rains in March and April that swept across Nigeria’s northeast, washing away houses and forcing schools to close.
Some of the hardest-hit areas were the coastal region, including Lagos, the commercial capital of Nigeria’s most populous state of Lagos, said Alhaji Yusuf Adamu, the state governor.
“The impact of the floods has been enormous and it will take many years to repair the damage,” Adamu said.
Many of the affected areas have experienced catastrophic damage, including the destruction of some of the nation’s main airports, Adamu said.
But he said the flooding that hit in March and April was not the same as the one that killed so many people 10 years ago.
“The situation is more serious,” he said. “The damage is much wider and more devastating now, even from the perspective of the lives and the livelihoods of people.”
The flooding that engulfed parts of the northern region is believed to have been caused by a combination of