麻豆传媒

Skip to main content

Flooding in northeastern Nigeria has left 30 people dead and over a million displaced

Houses are partially submerged following a dam collapse in Maiduguri, Nigeria, Tuesday, Sept 10, 2024. (AP Photos/ Musa Ajit Borno) Houses are partially submerged following a dam collapse in Maiduguri, Nigeria, Tuesday, Sept 10, 2024. (AP Photos/ Musa Ajit Borno)
Share
ABUJA, Nigeria -

Severe flooding in northeastern Nigeria has left 30 people dead and affected more than a million others, authorities said on Wednesday.

The collapse of a major dam in the state of Borno on Tuesday caused some of the state鈥檚 worst flooding since the same dam collapsed 30 years ago, and prompted many residents to flee their homes. The state government said the dam was at capacity due to unusually high rains.

The current flooding comes nearly two years after Nigeria鈥檚 worst flooding in a decade killed more than 600 people across the country.

About 15 per cent of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, was under water, state police spokesperson Nahum Daso told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

Ezekiel Manzo, spokesperson of National Emergency Management Agency, said Wednesday that the death toll is 30.

鈥淥ne million people have been affected so far,鈥 said an aide for the governor of Borno, adding that as efforts to document displaced people begin, that number could rise to up to 2 million.

Residents of Maiduguri said that food has become expensive since the central market was destroyed. There are also ongoing fears of wildlife after the flooding partially destroyed a local zoo and several of the animals escaped.

Mary Mamza, a Maiduguri resident, said people are afraid to leave their homes after an escaped crocodile was killed near her home earlier today.

These fears come as West Africa has experienced some of its worst flooding in decades. Over 2.3 million people have been affected by flooding so far this year which is a threefold increase from last year according to the UN.

African nations are losing up to 5 per cent of their GDP every year as they bear a heavier burden than the rest of the world from climate change, a new report said Monday after one of the continent鈥檚 hottest years on record.

The World Meteorological Organization said many African nations are spending up to 9 per cent of their budgets for climate adaptation policies.

The aide of the governor stressed that rescue operations were still underway and that people displaced by the flooding are gathering at a former refugee camp outside the flood zone.

CTVNews.ca Top Stories

For decades, Melven Jones couldn鈥檛 talk about what happened to him as a child. He didn鈥檛 even remember it.

The CEO of the Ottawa Mission is responding to controversial comments made this week by Premier Doug Ford about those living in homeless encampments that received swift blowback from advocates.

A strike by grain terminal workers at the Port of Metro Vancouver has ended, their employer announced Friday night.

Local Spotlight

A tale about a taxicab hauling gold and sinking through the ice on Larder Lake, Ont., in December 1937 has captivated a man from that town for decades.

When a group of B.C. filmmakers set out on a small fishing boat near Powell River last week, they hoped to capture some video for a documentary on humpback whales. What happened next blew their minds.

A pizza chain in Edmonton claims to have the world's largest deliverable pizza.

Sarah McLachlan is returning to her hometown of Halifax in November.

Wayne MacKay is still playing basketball twice at Mount Allison University at 87 years old.

A man from a small rural Alberta town is making music that makes people laugh.

An Indigenous artist has a buyer-beware warning ahead of Sept. 30, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

Police are looking to the public for help after thieves broke into a Lethbridge ice creamery, stealing from the store.

An ordinary day on the job delivering mail in East Elmwood quickly turned dramatic for Canada Post letter carrier Jared Plourde. A woman on his route was calling out in distress.