Three Tuareg children stand in the ruins of their little school building
in northern Mali. The conflict there continues, despite a peace accord
last summer. The board in back is their chalkboard. Many Tuaregs
remain in refugee camps outside of Mali because state-supported militias
keep attacking Tuareg civilians.
MondAfrique
Des inondations ravagent le nord du Niger
Par Mohamed Ag Ahmedou -
26 juin 2016
Freak rainstorms wreak havoc in Niger desert
Report from Agence France-Presse
Published on 20 Jun 2016
Niamey, Niger | AFP | Monday 6/20/2016 - 12:48 GMT
Unusual torrential rain in Niger desert kills 3
Ismail Akwei with AFP 20/06 - 15:12
At least three people died and thousands of livestock destroyed after heavy torrential rain in the desert in northern Niger.
Nigerien state television, Tele Sahel, which announced the death toll on Monday described the rain as exceptional adding that it destroyed hundreds of shops and houses.
“Heavy rainfall caused significant damage killing three people in Bazagor, a locality of Tchintabaradene in the northwest,” they announced adding that more than 115 millimeters of rain fell within hours.
Tuesday, 21 June 2016
A months rain in a couple of hours kills 3 and thousands of livestock in Niger: The latest West African country to be devasted by floods
At least three people died and thousands of livestock destroyed after heavy torrential rain in the desert in northern Niger.
Nigerien state television, Tele Sahel, which announced the death toll on Monday described the rain as exceptional adding that it destroyed hundreds of shops and houses.
"Heavy rainfall caused significant damage killing three people in Bazagor, a locality of Tchintabaradene in the northwest," they announced adding that more than 115 millimeters of rain fell within hours.
On June 14, Ingal, a town hundred kilometers from Agadez in the north, 85 millimeters of rain fell in two hours rendering thousands homeless as it collapsed hundreds of houses, according to local disaster management services.
The waters also killed more than 8,000 goats, sheep and cows prompting the prefect of the town, Abdourahamane Bikki to appeal to the government and international aid for help and the cremation of animal carcasses to prevent serious health problems.
The havoc created by the heavy rain in Niger adds to the number of damages recorded in the west coast of Africa including Ghana and Nigeria where flooding affected major parts of their capital cities.
http://www.thebigwobble.org/2016/06/a-months-rain-in-couple-of-hours-kills.html
Freak rainstorms wreak havoc in Niger desert
AFP Wired World 20 Jun 2016 02:54 (South Africa)
Unusually
heavy rains in Niger's desert north in recent days have killed
thousands of goats and cattle, gutted homes and stores, and left three
people dead, national television said Monday. "Torrential rains
caused severe damage and three dead in Bazagor", a town in the
northwestern province of Tchintabaradene, and destroyed 100 stores and
100 homes, said Tele Sahel. In Ingal, near the northern city of
Agadez, "85 millimetres (3 inches) of rain fell in two hours" on June
14, though yearly rainfall is rarely over 100 to 130 millimetres there.
Hundreds
of people have been left homeless in the past days with more than 8,000
goats, sheep, cattle and camel killed in the area, where animal corpses
are visible over 20 kilometres, television footage showed. Sub-Saharan Niger, a vast arid nation, regularly suffers food shortages due to drought.
But early this month the UN warned of floods in 2016 affecting the livelihoods of more than 100,000 people. Climate
change has wrought havoc in Niger, bringing floods, droughts, spikes in
temperature and food shortages -- buffeting the lives and livelihoods
of millions of the country's farmers.
Flooding in 2012 killed more
than 100 people, affected more than half a million Nigeriens and caused
at least 135 million euros ($145 million) worth of damage, according to
the disaster prevention office. Floods similarly killed dozens of people and affected hundreds of thousands in 2014 and 2015. Global warming is only worsening the problems, with the steadily encroaching desert now covering three-quarters of Niger.
hb/kc/ccr/ric
© 1994-2016 Agence France-Presse AFP Wired World
http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2016-06-20-freak-rainstorms-wreak-havoc-in-niger-desert/#.V3LYTo5RnE8
