Some 350,000 people in West Africa have been affected by serious flooding, the United Nations said Friday, noting that “significant” rainfall has lashed the region this year.
“Since June, the rainy season has been more significant, there has been much more rain than usual,” said Elisabeth Byrs, spokeswoman for the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
“Just like in 2007 when serious flooding had affected almost 800,000 people in this region, we have the impression that this year again, torrential rain has affected an enormous number of people,” she said.
Burkina Faso, Niger, Ghana, Guinea, Senegal and Benin have all been hit by the floods.
In Burkina Faso, five people have been killed and 150,000 people affected, while in Ghana, 25 deaths have been linked to to the floods.
Some 3,500 homes have been destroyed in Niger and in Guinea, 10,000 people have been affected by the floods.
In Benin, 20,000 people have been affected while in Senegal, emergency services had to be called in to drain out water which had swamped 30,000 homes.
