Abuja [Nigeria], June 1: Severe flooding across the central Nigerian state of Niger has killed at least 115 people and injured dozens more.
On May 30, Ibrahim Audu Husseini, spokesman for the Niger Emergency Management Agency, told AFP that the death toll had risen sharply from the 21 people announced on May 29. "More deaths are expected because the floods came from far away and swept people into the Niger River . Downstream, bodies are still being found," Husseini said.
Meanwhile, Gideon Adamu, director of the Niger Red Cross, said at least 78 people were hospitalized with injuries and two major bridges in the state were destroyed. Local media reported that more than 5,000 people were left homeless. Police and military personnel have been deployed to help with the disaster response. Earlier, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency warned of possible flash floods in 15 of Nigeria's 36 states from May 28 to 30.
In a statement, Nigeria's National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) described the flooding as "unprecedented." Nigeria typically experiences flooding during the rainy season, which runs from April to October each year. In 2022, Nigeria experienced its worst flooding in more than a decade, killing more than 600 people, displacing about 1.4 million and destroying 440,000 hectares of farmland. Scientists warn that climate change is causing more extreme weather patterns.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper