(Niamey) Fifteen people died on Friday following torrential rains that fell in the city of Maradi (central-south), the economic capital of Niger, announced Sunday the governor of the region of the same name, close to Nigeria.
Maradi is the region most affected by the heavy rains that have been falling since June on Niger, a vast desert country affected by climate change.
“We have recorded 15 losses of human life, we have also recorded injuries and very significant material damage,” governor and police officer Issoufou Mamane told public television Télé Sahel.
Mr. Mamane assures that he is trying to “relocate” the victims.
On Friday in Maradi, “150 millimeters fell in the space of one hour and 30 minutes,” the local correspondent said on television.
The images released show strong currents causing landslides and collapses of houses and sweeping away motorcycles, cars, trees and businesses.
In some areas, the waters damaged the drinking water and electricity distribution networks, according to Télé Sahel.
In addition, “many neighborhoods were submerged after gutters that drain runoff water gave way under the pressure of the floods,” a city resident told AFP.
On national road number 1, which links Maradi to Zinder, the country’s second largest city in terms of population, traffic “is interrupted,” he noted.
The Maradi reference hospital, one of the largest in the country, decided on Sunday to provide free treatment to all victims of heavy rains.
In less than three months, floods linked to the rainy season have left 217 dead, 200 injured and more than 350,000 homeless across the country, according to a report published on August 22 by the government, the latest available.
Last week, an exceptional flood of rivers due to heavy rains had also cut off the exit routes from the capital Niamey, but traffic has resumed.
In mid-August, the Niger River Basin Authority (NBA) warned residents of the capital of an upcoming “rapid rise in water levels.”
At the request of the authorities, some residents have already left their homes on the banks of the river.