Share & more
The Niger government is distributing cereals, mosquito nets and blankets for hundreds of people affected by flooding in the southeast region of Zinder. Local authorities reported 187 homes destroyed in Moa village on 18 July in this year’s first substantial rainfall.
Aboubacar Gogé, Zinder’s representative of the national early warning system and regional director of agricultural development, said he will travel from the city of Zinder to Moa – 110km northeast – to oversee distribution.
“This was truly an extraordinary rainfall,” he told IRIN. “Normally this area gets at most 200mm of rain a year, and almost 150mm fell in just one night.”
Moa farmers had not yet started planting due to delayed and insufficient rains.
Gogé told IRIN it took more than one week to react because Moa officials were not able to assess damage until days after the rainfall. “Access was a problem in the flooded area,” he said.
On 25 and 26 July, with financing from UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) distributed mosquito nets, plastic sheeting for temporary shelters, 374 blankets, 374 packages of high-protein biscuits and 561 jerry cans, according to MSF’s director in Zinder, Kalil Hamadoun Touré.
pt/np
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
