Worst Flooding In Decades Across Parts of Africa

Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon and surrounding areas are the hardest hit. CREDIT: NASA. View full size image

This article was provided by AccuWeather.com.

Persistent heavy rains across portions of western Africa since July have led to widespread flooding and more than 100 deaths. Areas from Niger and Nigeria into Cameroon have been the hardest hit from flooding.

The death toll has been rising in all three nations. The latest numbers indicate at least 80 people have died in Niger, 40 in Cameroon and 15 in Nigeria.

In Nigeria, the rain has also led to a food shortage that combined with the flooding is affecting more than 500,000 people. A separate cholera outbreak has been blamed for nearly 100 deaths across the nation as thousands remain homeless.

The flooding has led to schools starting weeks late across the nation.

Bodies continue to be found in flood waters across Cameroon, while a breached dam on the Benoue River has caused problems in both Cameroon and neighboring Nigeria.

Local officials in Cameroon have called the recent flooding the worst need in over 60 years.

Fears of a cholera outbreak associated with the flooding and so many displaced people have increased in recent weeks as more than 3,000 people have been hospitalized across the region.

A separate flooding incident in 2010 led to a cholera outbreak that killed nearly 6,000 people in the same region.

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