Flood Journal Entry
African Floods Spread Misery (September 24, 2007)
This false-color digital map shows elevation of the African continent. Flooding is common in low-lying areas where rivers run through wide plains. Mudslides often occur at higher elevations after heavy rainfall. University of Texas.
Recent heavy downpours triggered floods that are spreading misery far and wide across the African continent, from Mauritania in the west to Kenya in the east.
According to United Nations relief officials, floods killed at least 270 people and affected 1.5 million others in eighteen countries stretching across the central part of the continent.
Some of the worst flooding is in eastern Uganda, where at least 150,000 people have fled their homes to escape rising floodwaters. About 400,000 others lost their source of income after floods swamped their farms. The floods are making it hard or impossible to reach thousands of people stranded in remote villages.
The situation is just as bad across the continent in West Africa. In Ghana, the country's main farming region in the north has been declared a disaster zone. At least a quarter of a million people have been displaced.
In a number of countries, health officials are worried about the spread of waterborne diseases from contaminated drinking water. In Sudan, a cholera outbreak killed at least fifty people in recent weeks, according to the World Health Organization.
Floods are causing huge problems in Rwanda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, and the tiny West African nation of Togo. Even desert nations like Niger, Mali, and Mauritania have been hit hard.
The United Nations World Food Program and other international aid groups are working hard to bring food and emergency supplies to flood victims across the continent.
