Niamey, Niger surrounded by water after flooding

Causes of abnormal river flooding Sahel countries hit by heavy rains This week, the capital was surrounded for the first time in June. of NigerNiamey is almost completely isolated from the rest of the country.

Death toll rises as city’s main exit route floods 11 According to the latest official reports, the population of Niamey alone has reached 500. In less than three months, the floods have killed 217 people, injured 200 people, and more than 350,000 people. Disaster victims, According to military authorities.

The Insurmountable Axis of Life

To leave Niamey, “you have to take a canoe and hope to be able to continue your journey by vehicle on the other side,” one explained. resident An outlying village completely cut off by water. Most transport companies have suspended links with the country’s interior.

East of the capital, the group French Sogea-Satom is working to ensure that traffic on National Highway 1, an important axis of the country that runs through the country from the west, is restored as soon as possible. exist Nearly 1,500 kilometers.

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“The state is doing everything it can to restore traffic,” said Transport Minister Colonel Salissou Mahaman Salissou. this The military government. The authorities fear that a prolonged disruption to traffic could lead to shortages, especially of hydrocarbons. Recently, they restored traffic on the Tela-Niamey axis, the only access corridor. of Thousands of freight trucks pass through northern Burkina Faso.

In mid-August, the Administration Niger River Basin The ABN warned capital residents of an impending “surge” Quickly Excavators tried to raise the levee, while volunteers and soldiers sealed it with sandbags. First crack.

(AFP report)