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FACTBOX-West Africa's seasonal floods in 2009
Written by: George Fominyen
DAKAR (AlertNet)- Heavy flooding has displaced over a quarter of a million people and killed dozens in West Africa since the start of the rainy season in June, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has said. OCHA said in a statement on Sept. 4 that problems caused by urbanisation such as the absence of drainage and unplanned construction heighten the risk of destruction during heavy rainfall. Here are the recent facts and figures by country of damage caused by the flooding. Burkina Faso - 150,000 persons have been uprooted from their homes and five have died following the heaviest rainfall seen in the country's capital Ouagadougou in 90 years. About 110,000 people have been settled in 93 places in the capital while the rest are living with relatives. Ghana - 52, 000 persons have lost property or homes and at least 25 have been killed. Niger - 3,500 homes were partially or completely destroyed and 400 acres of crops have been wiped out. Two people have died. Benin - 20,000 people lost property or were displaced by floods which affected the coastal part of the country. According to the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent movement (IFRC) seven people died but this has not been confirmed by the Benin authorities. Guinea - About 16,000 people either abandoned their homes or had their houses partially damaged in the country's capital Conakry and the town of Kindia. Senegal - Two weeks of torrential downpour has flooded 30,000 households around the capital Dakar and other parts of the country. Sierra Leone - 15 people died and 425 were displaced in Freetown, the country's capital after two weeks of torrential rains in August, local authorities said. Six villages in the Kambia District lost all their crops to the rains. Ivory Coast - In June severe rains caused mudslides and floods that killed at least 19 people in the country's biggest town Abidjan, the authorities said. Mauritania - The state news agency reported that 3,000 persons had been made homeless by flooding in Rosso located 250 km (155 miles) from the capital Nouaktchott. There has also been weather related destruction in Cameroon, Liberia, Chad and the Gambia. However local officials, the IFRC and OCHA are still compiling detailed assessments and figures on the situation.
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