Record rainfall recorded in Burkina Faso and Mali

Burkina Faso is likely to record its best rainfall for 30 years as exceptionally heavy rains drench the drought-prone Sahel region, the government meteorological service said. Many parts of the landlocked West African country are likely to get 30 to 50 percent more rain that usual during the current wet season, they added. The rains began in May and are expected to last until the end of September. Record downpours have also been reported in much of Mali and in Niamey, the capital of Niger, the Niger river has eight times more water flowing along its bed than is usual at this time of year. Annual rainfall in the north of Burkina Faso, a semi-arid country on the southern edge of the Sahara desert, normally averages less than 500 mm. However, the government's chief weather forecaster said that if the current cloudbursts continue, the arid north could receive more than 600 mm this year. More lush and fertile southern districts of the country could receive as much as 1,200 mm, he added. "This year's rains started early in May because we had favorable meteorological conditions which extended in June as a result of El Nino", Frederic Ouattara, the head of Burkina Faso's meteorological service, said. El Nino is a warm current in the Pacific Ocean which sometimes sweeps down the coast of Peru, bringing torrential rain to the arid west coast of South America and disrupting normal weather patterns right across the globe. Ouattara said Burkina Faso "is experiencing an exceptional situation this year. We expect it to continue raining until the end of September, according to data we are receiving." Last year, Burkina Faso suffered a drought which led to water rationing in the capital Ouagadougou, whose reservoirs have now been fully replenished. Senegal, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Chad have also enjoyed good rains this year. But a researcher at the Niamey-based Center for Meteorological Application for Development, said it was premature talk of climatic change in the Sahel region. Abdallah Nassor told IRIN that this year's exceptionally heavy rains were consistent with the Sahel's "climatic variability." "For the time being, it appears to be part of a cyclic phenomenon that has negative and positive phases, he told IRIN. The Interstate Committee to Combat Drought in the Sahel (CILSS), said the heavy rain throughout the Sahel, while welcome, had brought its own problems. The Niamey-based organisation warned in particular that further heavy rainfall could cause the Senegal, Gambia and Niger rivers to burst their banks. In July, the volume of water in the Niger river in Niamey was eight times greater than usual and water was flowing along the riverbed at the highest rate since records began in 1928, it noted. There have been widespread reports of flooding, damage to houses and livestock in several countries and indications that locust swarms are developping in parts of Senegal and Mauritania. In Mali, a heavy downpour in the capital Bamako on July 17 left more than 300 people homeless. The city has a poor drainage and sewerage system and is prone to flooding. Large areas of Bamako were submerged by floodwaters in 1999 and again in 2001. Heavy rainfall in July and August forced Mali's electricity company EDM to open the floodgates of its Selingue hydro-electric dam upstream from the capital on August 14 to prevent it from overflowing, but creating a greater risk of flooding downstream. On August 10, torrential rains in the Tomonian district 480 km north of Bamako, destroyed over 700 grain storehouses, flooded 1,800 homes and killed hundreds of farm animals. The government said 117mm of rain fell there in a single day. Local residents said it was the strongest downpour in living memory. The rains in Mali are expected to continue until October.