Two months and only five days without rain. The terrible consequences of a prolonged rainy season

Floods on an unprecedented scale mainly affected Cameroon, Chad, Guinea, Mali, Niger and Nigeria. According to the UN, by the end of September, more than 750,000 people had been displaced by floods in eight African countries: the Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gambia, Guinea, Nigeria and Liberia.

The UN warned on Friday that the current situation also increases the risk of diseases transmitted by contaminated water, such as cholera.

In Liberia, according to forecasters, in the past two months there were only five days without rain. Last Wednesday, water entered the terminal at the capital airport in Monrovia from two sides, through the doors and a leaking roof. Passengers checking in on the lower level stood in ankle-deep water, and those waiting on the floor above to board the plane spread umbrellas over their heads or crowded into places where it was not raining.

In Mali and Liberia, relentless rains brought a plague of mosquitoes, which brought malaria. In the former country, in just one Kidal region, over two hundred people have died because of it in recent days. Local authorities asked the government for urgent support in the form of medicines, impregnated mosquito nets and mobile clinics.

The situation is serious in Chad, where at least 1.5 million people have been affected by floods. Preliminary assessments by the International Red Cross indicate that over 164,000 houses have been destroyed. It is also still raining in Chad, which may cause the humanitarian situation to worsen further, soon leading to famine in the flooded regions. Nigeria also suffered from flooding, especially in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, where after the Alau Dam burst on September 10, at least 70% of the water flooded. city. In Nigeria too, floods are expected to have a serious impact on the food security of residents.

South Sudan is struggling with the worst flood in its history, where thousands of people had to leave their homes. On Friday, the council of ministers recommended that President Salva Kiir declare a state of natural disaster in five states and the Abyei administrative area, where more than three million people have been affected. Although the rainy season in August and September is normal in West and Central Africa, this year's rains have been unusually heavy and in many countries they have brought the worst floods in at least 30 years, writes the UN. Back in mid-September, forecasters predicted that they would end at the beginning of October, but new forecasts predict continuous rainfall until November.