Devastating floods in northeastern Nigeria have inundated inland residential areas, displacing tens of thousands of people and forcing two zoos into the streets.
Bello minus 30 people Morreram nas chentes, disseram authorities. However, the death toll is bound to rise as authorities continue to struggle to rescue thousands more people feared to be trapped in their homes.
The floods that hit Borno State this week have not yet begun. barrage Or build dams on the regional recharge river. A powerful wave of water swept through the state capital Maiduguri, damaging buildings and infrastructure.
Authorities say nearly a thousand people are missing and about 200,000 displaced.
Floods are not uncommon in northern Nigeria. However, experts say Maiduguri is facing its worst in the past 30 years.
The affected area is the epicentre of a 15-year-old armed insurgency led by Boko Haram, which has displaced thousands of people living in the fields, making you particularly vulnerable. Maiduguri also serves as a hub for humanitarian operations.
Here's what you should know about why witchcraft happens and how authorities respond:
What causes flooding?
Authorities claim the floods are caused by excessive rainfall during the rainy season, which runs from June to September in the West African country.
The Alao barrier, located in Konduga community, a few kilometres from Maiduguri, was moved to the second gallery after it was submerged by water from the Chufa barricades, according to authorities.
The dam was built in 1986 to help farmers in Maiduguri irrigate. In many cases, it also helps control flooding of the Ngada River, which sometimes receives higher than normal flows from sources that flow back into the vast Lake Chad.
In 1994, powerful Chufa forces caused the Alao River to burst, flooding Maiduguri and the surrounding area. In 2012, a barrage of rockets erupted, flooding nearby communities. The number of people affected in 1994 remains unclear, with a government report indicating that multiple casualties in several states in 2012 killed 363 people and displaced 3.8 thousand.
What happens to people in affected areas?
Thousands of people remain trapped in buildings and trees in areas affected by the currents, Al Jazeera's Ahmed Idris said, reporting from Maiduguri. To leave their homes, people have to use canoes, which are not available in most places.
In many places, the snow is not low. Authorities are now trying to help with search and rescue operations, where survivors were initially forced to wait for hours and hours, with the help of volunteers with few resources.
“People are getting into the water with as many people as they can and with as little equipment as they can to help try to save people from drowning,” Idris said on the fifth day. “At the place we visited, the head of the rescue operation – a group of local volunteers – we were determined to be able to immediately rescue 200 people who were trapped in their homes. Some were in treetops, some were on roofs, some were hanging on practically anything you could throw at them.
Authorities are using boats in rescue operations. Large numbers of people are also crammed into huge military trucks sent for the rescue operation at the fourth exhibition.
Idris said authorities would return “many” bodies, without providing a number. One of them was the child Hamira, who waited 36 hours with his family to be rescued, then took refuge in a boat. The boat crashed, causing the child to drown.
Damaged septic tanks and flooded cemeteries are also raising fears of the rapid spread of infectious diseases, as authorities struggle to find shelter for those affected.
Major government hospitals, including the University of Maiduguri Hospital, which houses 1,305 litos – or most of northeastern Nigeria – were also flooded.
“I have been in this hospital for 37 years and I have never seen anything like this before,” Ahmed Ahidjo, the hospital’s medical director, told Al Jazeera on the fifth day of the exhibition.
“Everything is gone and the centres – we have about 14 non-hospital specialist centres – they are all flooded and some of the very expensive machines… all of these machines are flooded.”
The hospital can still perform emergency operations at higher levels, but it has no electricity and has had to suspend hospital treatment, Ahidjo added, once the sewage system becomes infected with patients.
Why dare you have jungles in the streets?
Another concern is that you are encouraged to swim in cold water. Authorities say 80% of the animals at the Sanda Kyarimi Zoo in Maiduguri have died or are dead.
The zoo authorities will confirm in a statement that dangerous animals have escaped and urge residents to take care of themselves. “Some dead animals have been brought to our communities, such as crocodiles and cobras,” the statement said.
It is not clear how many animals are housed in the zoo. It is home to a wide range of jungle life, including endangered elephants and lions, as well as hyenas, crocodiles and cobras.
In videos circulating on social media, an ostrich that appeared to have escaped from the Saltitava Zoo was seen on the streets. Authorities said they would be able to rescue the animal and return it.
Animals escape from zoo as Maiduguri faces worst violence since 1994. pic.twitter.com/FMQwmys0wH
– Nigeria Hoji (@NigeriasToday) September 10, 2024
Is a food emergency brewing?
Many people in Borno State, and much of northern Nigeria, already find themselves in a serious food emergency, amid rising disease rates. economic inflationMalnutrition cases will increase in the region as the lean season ends, with 4.4 million people without food, according to the World Food Programme.
The ongoing war waged by Boko Haram also means that hundreds of thousands of people live in tents in camps for internally displaced people in Maiduguri and rely on food provided by humanitarian aid organizations.
“The city is flooded now. What is happening in the fields now is that people are very desperate,” said Idris. “Some people are more than 48 hours away and they are not receiving any help.”
🚨 Disaster reveals m #NigeriaI am Borno.
Conflict, high food inflation and catastrophic flooding in Maiduguri have displaced thousands of people and devastated large populations. 🌾 As food production suffers, food shortages increase.
We need urgent global action to overcome this crisis and rebuild. pic.twitter.com/Iy5erDkY2b
— World Food Programme Nigeria (@WFP_Nigeria) September 12, 2024
“Some of the IDP camps have been completely evacuated, so the authorities will move some people to the few that are not flooded,” said Al Jazeera's Fidelis Mbah, also reporting from Maiduguri.
“Some places have been moved to schools, churches and mosques because there is nowhere else to go.”
To make matters worse, farmers in the food-producing country have been targeted by armed groups and killed in their agricultural explorations in recent years. Experts attribute the region’s food crisis in part to the decline of local agriculture.
Idris said the Borno government had distributed money to people affected by the need to buy food this week, and there was nothing left to buy once the markets were flooded.
“Furthermore, two food stores in the market were flooded, some completely destroyed, and what little is left in Borno State will not be enough to feed the huge number of people displaced by this disaster,” he added.
Warnings about the hurricane appear to have been in place for months, though it's not clear why the country's national disaster agencies and state government were no longer prepared for the hurricane.
“About two weeks ago, we issued a national green alert… and every year we issue a national shea forecast showing what the shea will look like,” Femi Babajide, director of the National Hydrological Services Agency, told local station Arise News.
