Flooding threatens Kinshasa

The government on Thursday warned that Kinshasa faced imminent serious flooding on account of recent heavy rains in the northwest and southwest basins, UN sources said. At an information meeting, DRC officials said the level of the Congo river was now over 5 meters and rising, and the river was about to burst its banks at Kinshasa. Some city neighborhoods along the river were already underwater, people had lost their homes, and 14 of the city’s 24 communes could be flooded in the coming days, the officials said. Electricity had been cut off in affected areas, flooded septic tanks had already exposed people to potential epidemics, and cholera had spread to 10 communes. A government-led crisis committee had been established to address the situation, the sources added.