Over 1,000 killed, 740,000 displaced by floods affecting 5M in Africa: UN

More than 1,000 people have died and at least 740,000 displaced as floods wreak havoc across West and Central Africa, affecting over 5 million people in 16 countries, the UN said on Thursday.

Most parts of the central and west African region as well as the Sahel have been experiencing severe floods due to heavy rainfall.

The countries of Chad, Niger, and Nigeria have been the hardest hit, accounting for over 80 percent of the total affected population, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

In addition to the human toll, hundreds of thousands of homes, schools, and health care facilities have been damaged, with some half a million acres of farmland destroyed, threatening food security and increasing malnutrition, particularly in Chad and Niger.

The precarious living conditions are also raising the risk of waterborne diseases, such as cholera, spreading in Niger and Nigeria, the UN warned.

Joyce Msuya, assistant secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and deputy emergency relief coordinator, has allocated $35 million to support the response in Chad, Niger, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Congo. However, additional funds are urgently needed, the UN stressed.

In Nigeria alone, Msuya allocated $5 million to assist 280,000 people with food, clean water, and shelter, as well as efforts to prevent cholera outbreaks.

The $927 million Humanitarian Response Plan for Nigeria is only 46 percent funded, officials noted.