Severe Flooding Hits Chad, Sub-Saharan Africa

Numerous countries in central, eastern, and western Africa have been hit by severe flooding. The U.N. World Food Program is working to distribute humanitarian aid to people affected by the floods as soon as possible. Flooding in eastern Chad has worsened conditions for refugees from Sudan's Darfur region and other parts of Chad.

According to a press release from the United Nations on Wednesday, the flooding is among the "worst floods in decades" and has affected about one and a half million people in sub-Saharan Africa. The U.N. World Food Program (WFP) is working to bring aid to them, and has appealed for additional funding. There has been heavy damage to the infrastructure and crops of the west African countries of Togo and Ghana; more than thirty thousand homes were destroyed in Togo.

Much of the city of Tintane, Mauritania was covered in floods, causing major infrastructure damage. Over one-hundred and ten people have died in Sudan, with two-hundred thousand left homeless. Heavy rain caused the deaths of fifteen people in Rwanda and damaged many homes. Access to some areas of Kenya has been cut by heavy rainfall, and some people have been displaced by flooding in the western part of the country. Floods in Ethiopia and Uganda also affected over 483,000 people.

As reported by another press release issued by the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) on Wednesday, many homes have been destroyed or received damage from the flooding in eastern Chad (located in central Africa), and land access to the southeastern Koukou Angarana region remains interrupted. Some aid has been successfully delivered by air, but flooding has rendered airstrips unusable at times.

A driver for the UNHCR in Chad was quoted as saying that flooding had not been as severe for the previous two years, and it is often necessary to take long detours so as to avoid flooded roads. Some vehicles have fallen over and/or became submerged in the water. The flooding has worsened conditions in camps for Sudanese refugees, many from the Darfur region, and refugees from other parts of Chad.

According to the CIA World Factbook, the nation of Chad is just over three times as large as California, and has a population of almost ten million. It is bordered by the countries of Libya, Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger, the Central African Republic, and Sudan. The average life expectancy is about forty-seven years. The country became independent from France in August, 1960.

Sources:
1. United Nations, http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=23858&Cr=africa&Cr1=floods
2. UNHCR, http://www.unhcr.org/news/NEWS/46f128d34.html
3. CIA World Factbook, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cd.html