20101020
africanews

Nearly 400 people died in flooding in central and West Africa, with nearly 1.5 million people affected since the start of the rainy season in June, the United Nations said. It said last year floods killed almost 200 people in West Africa and affected over 800,000 others.

"2010 has seen the largest number of people affected and dying from flooding", the AFP quotes UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs OCHA as saying in a statement.

Deaths resulting from flood were reportedly highest in Nigeria with 118, followed by Ghana (52), Sudan (50), Benin (43), Chad (24), Mauritania (21), Burkina Faso (16), Cameroon (13), Gambia (12), with other countries reporting less than 10 dead.

OCHA said flooding displaced 360,000 people in Benin followed by Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso, Sudan and Mauritania, in a descending order of impact. It said the “floods worsened the situation in Niger and Chad, which are already facing a severe food crisis".

Cholera

"In Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad rain is leading to cholera epidemics," OCHA said, adding that Cholera has killed 1,182 people in Nigeria, Africa's most populous of 150 million.

The rain "also disrupted the start of the school year in several countries and led to losses in the social and economic infrastructure, houses and farming".
It said last year floods killed 195 people in West Africa and affected 823,291 others.

Measures

The UN body said Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency NEMA, worked with aid and relief agencies of the UN, the MSF and the Nigerian Red Cross to bring urgent relief assistance to the affected areas in parts of the country's north after heavy downpours destroyed many road and water infrastructure.

It said government plans to spend 150 million dollars for urgent rehabilitation in Kebbi and Sokoto States while the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has allocated over 300,000 dollars to assist 3,000 families badly affected by the floods.