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BBC News
2 days ago
- Climate
- BBC News
Nigeria flash floods death toll rises to at least 151
At least 151 people in central Nigeria are now known to have died following flash floods that destroyed homes and displaced thousands of residents earlier this Niger State Emergency Management Agency (Nsema) confirmed to the BBC the death toll had risen sharply from 115, after floods hit the town of Mokwa.A Nsema spokesman told the BBC more than 500 households with a population in excess of 3,000 people were affected. Some families are said to have lost between two and five relatives including agency warned the death toll could rise further after people were washed into the River Niger below the town. Local authorities said 11 people had been rescued and taken to hospitals for treatment. Nsema said the Tiffin Maza and Anguwan Hausawa districts of Mokwa were worst district head Muhammad Shaba Aliyu said it has been 60 years since the community had suffered this kind of flooding."I beg the government to support us," Mr Aliyu the officials appear to be overwhelmed by the scale of destruction as families desperately seek food and shelter. Mokwa is located at the edge of the River Niger, a transit point between the northern and southern part of Nigeria.A bridge linking the northern and south-western parts of the country has collapsed in the floods and left motorists President Bola Tinubu directed "all relevant emergency and security agencies to intensify ongoing search and rescue operations".Torrential rain fell in the region on late Wednesday into Thursday, causing flash floods. Nigeria's rainy season is just beginning and usually lasts from April to have warned of heavy downpours in at least 15 of the country's 36 states.
Al Jazeera
3 days ago
- Climate
- Al Jazeera
More than 100 killed in heavy Nigeria flooding, rescue efforts ongoing
At least 115 people have been killed after heavy flooding submerged the market town of Mokwa in Nigeria's northcentral Niger State, destroying thousands of homes, according to an emergency services official, in a country beset by deadly storms every year. Head of the operations office in Minna, capital of Niger State, Husseini Isah, said on Friday that many people were still in peril as rescue efforts continue. 'We have so far recovered 115 bodies and more are expected to be recovered because the flood came from far distance and washed people into the River Niger. Downstream, bodies are still being recovered,' a Niger State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) spokesman, Ibrahim Audu Husseini, told the AFP news agency. 'So, the toll keeps rising.' Torrential rains battered Mokwa late on Wednesday and lasted for several hours, washing away dozens of homes, with many residents still missing. A dam collapse in a nearby town caused the situation to rapidly deteriorate. It is difficult to say how well-placed rescue efforts are to salvage people 'because every rainy season we continue to see things like this,' said Al Jazeera's Ahmed Idris, reporting from Abuja. 'Warnings have been put out by authorities for people exposed or communities living along river banks to move to higher ground, especially when the rains start to peak, but every year we continue to see more and more lives and property damaged because of rainfall,' said Idris. 'In certain areas, proper drainage isn't there … and most of these disasters take officials of emergency management agencies in various states by surprise even though there has been consistent flooding over the past three years,' said Idris. As a result, 'a lot of people don't believe it will be any different' this time around. Mokwa is a key meeting and transit point for traders from the south and food growers in the north of the country. In the town, Mohammed Tanko, 29, a civil servant, told reporters that he lost at least 15 people from the house he grew up in. 'The property [is] gone. We lost everything,' Tanko said. For fisherman Danjuma Shaba, 35, the floods destroyed his house, forcing him to sleep in a car park. 'I don't have a house to sleep in. My house has already collapsed,' Shaba told the AFP news agency. As Nigeria's rainy season begins, typically lasting for six months, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency has warned of possible flash floods in 15 of Nigeria's 36 states, including Niger State, between Wednesday and Friday. The most concerning thing about these floods is 'this isn't even the peak of the rainy season,' said Idris. 'In some states, the rains have only been there for a month and yet we're seeing this.' However, scientists have warned that the effects of climate change are already being felt, as extreme weather patterns are becoming more frequent. The heavy rainfall causes problems for Nigeria every year as it destroys infrastructure and is further exacerbated by inadequate drainage. In September 2024, torrential rains and a dam collapse in the northeastern Maiduguri city caused severe flooding, killing at least 30 people and displacing millions. Last year, more than 1,200 people were killed and 1.2 million displaced in at least 31 out of 36 states, in one of the country's worst floods in decades, according to the National Emergency Management Agency.
Khaleej Times
3 days ago
- Climate
- Khaleej Times
Nigeria: At least 115 killed in flash floods; toll expected to rise further
Flash floods that ripped through parts of central Nigeria have killed at least 115 people, an emergency services official said on Friday, with the toll expected to rise further. Teams of rescuers continued to search for missing residents after torrential rains late on Wednesday washed away and submerged dozens of homes in and around the city of Mokwa, in Niger state. "We have so far recovered 115 bodies and more are expected to be recovered because the flood came from far distance and washed people into the River Niger," Ibrahim Audu Husseini, a spokesman for the Niger State Emergency Management Agency told AFP. "Downstream, bodies are still being recovered. So, the toll keeps rising," he added. He said many were still missing, citing a family of 12 where only four members have been accounted for. "Some bodies were recovered from the debris of collapsed homes," he said, adding that his teams would need excavators to retrieve corpses from under the rubble. Earlier on Friday, an official coordinating the search and rescue operation, Hussaini Isah, had given a provisional toll of 88. An AFP journalist saw emergency services conducting search and rescue operations as residents searched through the rubble of collapsed buildings as flood waters flowed alongside. 'We lost everything' Displaced children played in the flood waters, heightening the possibility of exposure to water-borne diseases as at least two bodies lay covered in printed cloth and banana leaves. An emotional woman in a maroon headscarf sat with tears dripping down her face. Mohammed Tanko, 29, a civil servant, pointed to a house he grew up in, telling reporters "we lost at least 15 from this house. The property (is) gone. We lost everything". Fisherman Danjuma Shaba, 35, said he slept rough in a car park. "I don't have a house to sleep in. My house has already collapsed," said Shaba. Nigeria's rainy season, which usually lasts six months, is just getting started for the year. Flooding, usually caused by heavy rains and poor infrastructure, wreaks havoc every year, killing hundreds of people across the west African country. Scientists have also warned that climate change is already fuelling more extreme weather patterns. In Nigeria, the floods are exacerbated by inadequate drainage, the construction of homes on waterways and the dumping of waste in drains and water channels. The Nigerian Meteorological Agency had warned of possible flash floods in 15 of Nigeria's 36 states, including Niger state, between Wednesday and Friday. In 2024, more than 1,200 people were killed and 1.2 million displaced in at least 31 out of Nigeria's 36 states, making it one of the country's worst floods in decades, according to the National Emergency Management Agency.
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Climate
- The Guardian
At least 115 die in Nigeria floods as rescue efforts continue
More than 100 people have died and several others remain missing after a torrential downpour in the central Nigerian state of Niger, local authorities said on Friday. Floods submerged the town of Mokwa after the rains began on Wednesday night and continued till Thursday morning. Ibrahim Audu Hussein, spokesperson for the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), said rescue efforts were still under way on Friday. 'We have so far recovered 115 bodies and more are expected to be recovered because the flood came from far distance and washed people into the River Niger. Downstream, bodies are still being recovered,' Husseini told the AFP news agency. 'So, the toll keeps rising'. More than 3,000 houses have also been submerged, he added. Mokwa, a commercial town 376 kilometres (233 miles) west of Nigeria's capital Abuja, is a known commercial hub in the state with many traders and heavy duty vehicles often carrying goods to other regions in the country. In Nigeria, the rainy season usually runs from April to October. In a forecast issued on Wednesday by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency, heavy storms were predicted for Abuja and 14 of the country's 36 states including Niger. Niger, Nigeria's largest state by landmass, is home to three of the country's major dams – Kainji, Jebba and Shiroro – which contribute significantly to the country's electricity grid. A fourth dam is under construction. The state has been prone to flooding in recent times; in April, water released from one of the dams destroyed more than 5,000 farms in 30 communities including in Mokwa. Local news reports suggested that it was the sixth time a flood had happened in the state this year. In 2022, Nigeria experienced floods which killed more than 600 people, displaced about 1.4 million and destroyed 440,000 hectares of farmland. Experts have warned of more extreme climate weather patterns due to continued global heating. Last year, the collapse of a dam 20 kilometres (12 miles) outside the north-eastern town of Maiduguri killed at least 30 people, displaced thousands of people and led to crocodiles and snakes being washed away from the city zoo into its environs. Nigerian authorities said it was part of the country's worst flooding in decades, as 1200 people in all died across 21 states.
