Weeks of intense flooding in Chad have resulted in 341 deaths and impacted 1.5 million people since July, according to the United Nations.
The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that all 23 provinces in Chad have been affected by the deluge.
Government data indicates the destruction of around 164,000 homes and the loss of nearly 70,000 cattle, with 259,000 hectares of fields rendered unproductive.
The government has not yet provided a detailed damage assessment for the nation of approximately 16 million people.
Recently, 14 students and a teacher were killed when a school collapsed in Ouaddai province due to heavy rains. In mid-August, flooding in Tibesti province, Chad’s desert region, claimed at least 54 lives.
Idriss Abdallah Hassan from Chad’s National Meteorological Agency noted that while rainfall is typically low in the mountainous area, severe downpours occur every five to ten years.
The UN has urged immediate action and funding to address the climate crisis exacerbating such extreme weather events.
South Sudan has also been severely affected, with over 700,000 people impacted by flooding, according to an OCHA report from September 5.
This summer has set global records for heat and severe weather conditions.
