Flood And Landslides In ten days, At least 24 people died in Abidjan, Ivory Coast on Monday after what authorities described as an unusually violent beginning to the rainy season of the country’s largest city.
Rainfall is four times more than usual for West African countriesThe economic capital has faced heavy losses over the duration resulting into increase in water levels and landslides.
the national civil protection office (ONPC) said that they had reported “heavy rains from Thursday 13 to Saturday 22 June” which claimed lives of twenty-four individuals and warned that buildings could collapse.
According to ONPC statement two others were washed away by water bodies.” This information corrected the number of deaths recorded by firefighters on June 15 and about which it was stated that eight persons died during heavy rainfall in Abidjan.
A quarter of all rain expected over a three-month period from May to July will fall within one day according to Sodexam, a national meteorological agency
In Yopougon town, Sodexam registered a rainfall level of 214mm (8.4 inches) within just one day whereas average level is fifty mm (two inch).
In Abidjan, a city with nearly six million inhabitants, there are frequent devastating floods caused by torrential rains.
Much as many slums were destroyed through government’s large-scale clearing operations, there are numerous poor people who still live in shanties located at floodprone points.
The worst rainfalls were experienced in this country in 2023 leading to the death of not less than thirty people from flooding among other accidents.
