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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.
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.
Al Jazeera
3 days ago
- Climate
- Al Jazeera
At least 88 killed in heavy Nigeria flooding, rescue efforts ongoing
At least 88 people have been killed after heavy flooding submerged the market town of Mokwa in Nigeria's north-central Niger State, 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. 'The number keeps rising,' Isah told The Associated Press news agency. 'But at the last count, 88 bodies have been recovered.' A Niger State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) spokesman, Ibrahim Audu Husseini, told the AFP news agency earlier that he 'expected the toll to rise considerably because there are different rescuers at different locations'. 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. 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 AFP. 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. 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.
DW
3 days ago
- Climate
- DW
Nigeria: Death toll from major floods passes 100 – DW – 05/30/2025
Torrential rains in central Nigeria on Wednesday triggered flooding and widespread damage. Rescuers say the death toll has surpassed 100 people. The death toll from widespread floods in central Nigeria rose to at least 111 people on Friday. After torrential rains earlier in the week, flood waters have swept away more than 50 homes in the market town of Mokwa in the central Niger state. Ibrahim Audu Husseini, spokesperson for the Niger state emergency management agency (SEMA) told the Associated Press that "More bodies have just been brought and are yet to be counted, but we have at least 111 confirmed already." The head of the operations office in the Niger state capital Minna, Husseini Isah, said rescue efforts were still ongoing on Friday, but many people were still at risk. "The number keeps rising," he told the Associated Press. Earlier in the day, Husseini, told AFP he "expected the toll to rise considerably because there are different rescuers at different locations." Why is flooding so dangerous in Nigeria? Mokwa is a key local hub for traders from the south of the country and farmers from the north. It is located around 220 kilometers (140 miles) west of the capital Abuja. The flooding was triggered by several hours of heavy rain, with the collapse of a nearby damn exacerbating the situation. Nigeria's Meteorological Agency warned of possible flash floods in 15 of Nigeria's 36 states, including Niger State, between Wednesday and Friday. Nigeria's rainy season has only just started and normally lasts around six months. The annual occurrence regularly kills hundreds of people. A lack of drainage, the construction of homes on waterways and the dumping of waste in drains and water channels all make the flooding worse. Flood awareness and alleviation in Nigeria To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Nigeria suffered one of its worst disasters in decades in 2024, with flooding killing more than 1,200 people and displacing another 1.2 million. The flooding, which impacted 31 of the country's 36 states, also destroyed more than 1.4 million hectares (3.5 million acres) of farmland. Edited by: Wesley Dockery, Zac Crellin
The Sun
3 days ago
- Climate
- The Sun
Death toll in central Nigeria flooding rises to 88, says rescuer
MOKWA: The death toll in central Nigeria flash floods has risen to at least 88 after rescuers recovered more bodies, an emergency services official said on Friday. Teams of rescuers continued to search for missing residents after torrential rains late on Wednesday washed away dozens of homes in the city of Mokwa, drowning residents with many still missing. 'The death toll is about 88,' Hussaini Isah, head of operations for the National Emergency Management Agency in Niger state told journalists, adding that the number is 'rising'. Earlier, a Niger state emergency management agency (SEMA) spokesman, Ibrahim Audu Husseini, told AFP he 'expected the toll to rise considerably because there are different rescuers at different locations'. 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.
