Nigeria floods affect one million people after dam collapse

Authorities successful Borno State unreserved to supply structure for residents displaced by the terrible flooding.

The illness of a dam successful northeast Nigeria has caused terrible flooding, destroying thousands of homes and worsening a dire humanitarian crisis.

The flooding successful Borno State has affected a cardinal people, the authorities politician said connected Wednesday, straining resources arsenic authorities scramble to rescue residents and spot them successful impermanent shelters.

Heavy rains had caused a dam to overflow connected Tuesday, decimating a state-owned zoo and washing crocodiles and snakes into flooded communities.

Al Jazeera’s Ahmed Idris, reporting from Maiduguri successful Nigeria, said a “stream of people” are presently making their mode retired of areas covered by the floodwaters.

He said civilians person been searching successful the h2o with constricted diving instrumentality to prevention arsenic galore radical arsenic possible.

“We’ve seen dormant bodies arriving,” helium said, adding that a palmy rescue cognition saw babe twins saved from the floodwaters and moved to safety.

Local officials said it was the worst flooding successful the authorities successful 2 decades, but authorities person yet to denote deaths.

People locomotion done floodwaters pursuing a dam illness successful Maiduguri, Nigeria, Tuesday, September 10, 2024 [Joshua Olatunji/AP Photos]

Idris reported that Nigeria’s Vice President Kashim Shettima visited radical displaced by the floods connected Tuesday evening and promised to supply them with food, structure and medicine. A time later, Idris said that precise fewer supplies had reached those people.

Borno State politician Babagana Zulum visited Bakassi campy connected Wednesday and told reporters that authorities were assessing the harm and a 4th of the authorities capital, Maiduguri, had been flooded.

“You tin spot however h2o wholly flooded the area, sewerages were wholly flooded, that means waterborne diseases would beryllium transmitted,” Zulum told reporters portion gathering affected residents.

The dam illness is compounding a humanitarian situation successful Borno implicit the past decennary owed to a rebellion started by the Boko Haram equipped group. The rebellion, which has spilled crossed borders astir Lake Chad, has killed much than 35,000 people, displaced 2.6 cardinal others successful the country’s north-east region.

Bakassi campy utilized to location tens of thousands of radical who were displaced by the Boko Haram rebellion. The campy had been closed past year.

The National Emergency Management Agency said that floods successful Nigeria person killed 229 radical since the commencement of the year.

In precocious August, flooding killed 49 radical and displaced thousands successful 3 states – Jigawa, Adamawa and Taraba – aft dense rains successful the country’s northeast.

The worst flooding successful caller times killed 600 radical successful 2022.

Source

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Al Jazeera and quality agencies