KEY POINTS
- Severe monsoon rains have caused flooding across Chad, Nigeria, Niger, and Mali.
- The monsoon belt shifted further north, bringing rain to usually dry desert areas.
- Over 1,460 people have died, with Mali declaring a state of disaster.
Monsoon rains have brought severe flooding across West and Central Africa, affecting millions and revealing critical gaps in infrastructure and preparedness.
In Chad’s capital, N’Djamena, floodwaters reached unprecedented levels, leaving residents like Dah Toubada Kadapia struggling to protect their homes with makeshift sandbags. “If only the authorities could find a solution so every year it’s not just floods,” Kadapia said.
The flooding, which has impacted all 23 of Chad’s provinces, also breached a dam in northern Nigeria, damaged historic sites in Niger’s Agadez, and claimed over 1,460 lives, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Climate shifts intensify floods across the Sahel
While some rains were forecast, unusual rainfall patterns have exacerbated the situation. The monsoon belt shifted further north than usual, causing desert areas in Chad and neighboring countries to flood. This shift has strained infrastructure and caught communities unprepared.
Wassila Thiaw, deputy director at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), said that the July-to-September rainfall was among the five wettest seasons in regions of Chad, Niger, and Mali. Some areas recorded even more rain than during the catastrophic floods of 2022.
Mali was forced to declare a national disaster and delay the academic year by a month as floodwaters displaced families and schools became shelters. “We lost everything, and now my grandchildren are all sick,” said Iya Kobla, a grandmother seeking refuge on a school floor in Bamako after floods destroyed her village.
Calls for better planning and early warnings
Experts warn that climate change will continue to increase the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events in West Africa. Furthermore, Thiaw noted that the region is experiencing wetter monsoons after decades of drought from the 1970s to the 1990s.
Although global organizations like the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) have launched action plans to improve early warning systems, vulnerable communities often lack the capacity to act on these alerts.
Moreover, Andrew Kruczkiewicz, a senior researcher at Columbia University’s Climate School, stressed that early warnings alone are not enough without comprehensive preparedness plans, funding, and community involvement.
According to Reuters, in Chad, where over 40 percent of the population lives in poverty, disaster response resources are already stretched thin by the presence of two million refugees.
“It’s incomplete to say early warnings alone would prevent damage,” Kruczkiewicz said. “We need pre-agreed plans and community buy-in to make a real impact.”
With flood risks rising and infrastructure failing to keep pace, experts argue that West and Central Africa are at a critical juncture. The recent floods highlight the urgent need for coordinated disaster management to safeguard lives and property as climate conditions worsen.
