The European Union has provided €5.4 million ($6 million) in aid to six West and Central African nations affected by deadly floods, according to the EU delegation in Chad on Wednesday.
This humanitarian assistance aims to support the populations most severely impacted by the devastating floods in Chad, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon, Mali, and Burkina Faso, the statement noted.
Since the start of the rainy season, intense downpours have swept through several regions, resulting in significant damage. So far, the floods have claimed over 1,500 lives, affected four million people, and displaced 1.2 million across these six nations and Guinea, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
“These unprecedented floods are a stark reminder of the escalating effects of climate change in our region,” said Sylvia Ekra, IOM Regional Director for West and Central Africa.
The EU aid package includes allocations of €1.35 million to Niger, €1.1 million to Nigeria, €1 million each to Chad and Mali, €650,000 to Cameroon, and €350,000 to Burkina Faso. This is in addition to the €232 million in humanitarian aid already designated for these countries earlier this year, according to the EU press release.
Meanwhile, the IOM has also released $3 million in emergency relief for Nigeria, where nearly 650,000 people have been displaced by the floods.
According to the latest figures from the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), severe flooding in Chad has claimed 503 lives and affected around 1.7 million people since July. In Niger, where the floods have delayed the start of the school year, over one million people have been impacted.
In Mali, the IOM reports that this year’s rainfall is the most severe since 1967, affecting more than 180,000 people. Northern Cameroon has also been hit hard, with floods killing 20 and impacting over 230,000 people since late August, according to OCHA.
Experts have long warned that climate change, driven by human-induced fossil fuel emissions, is increasing the frequency, severity, and duration of extreme weather events like torrential rainstorms.
