The World Health Organization (WHO) is intensifying its emergency response in Congo-Brazzaville amid one of the most severe floods the central African nation has faced in decades. The UN health agency has earmarked $100,000 (£78,000) to deploy initial responders, as revealed by WHO’s Africa office on Thursday.
The impact of the floods has been extensive, with nine out of Congo’s 12 regional departments experiencing widespread devastation. Over 336,000 Congolese citizens have been affected, along with 34 health facilities and more than 2,200 hectares of farmland, underscoring the gravity of the situation.
Congo-Brazzaville and its neighboring counterpart, the Democratic Republic of Congo, grapple with severe flooding attributed to heavy rains and the Congo River’s water levels reaching their highest since 1961. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the floods have resulted in more than 300 fatalities and displaced over 300,000 households, according to reports from Reuters citing the social affairs ministry.
Various factors contribute to flooding, but the exacerbation of extreme rainfall is increasingly linked to a warming atmosphere caused by climate change. This underscores the urgent need for global attention and collaborative efforts to address both the immediate humanitarian crisis and the underlying environmental issues contributing to such disasters.
