N’Djamena, October 20 (BNA) Chadian President Mohamed Idriss Deby declared a state of emergency today, Wednesday, due to floods that affected more than one million people in the central African country.
Floods are common during Chad’s rainy season, which usually runs from May to October in its southern regions. Reuters reported that this year’s rains came early and were the heaviest in decades.
“From now on, an emergency will be put in place to better contain and manage this natural disaster,” Deby said in a televised address to the nation.
He said the floods affected 636 towns in 18 out of the country’s 23 provinces. The most affected are the southern counties of Mayo Kebbi Est, Logone Occidental, Tandjile, Moyen Chari and Mandoul.
Even in the capital, N’Djamena, hundreds of people have fled their homes due to flooding in the past few days.
Deby said the government has put in place a response plan to provide shelter, food and sanitation.
Chad has two main rivers, the Chari and the Logone, which flow through its southern provinces and empty into Lake Chad, in the border area with Niger, Nigeria and Cameroon.
This year, the lake was recharged early from other tributaries, and the water level in it became higher than the level of the two rivers, causing them to flow instead into surrounding towns and villages, said Hamid Abker Soliman, a hydrologist at Chad’s National Meteorological Agency.
“You will notice that all the countries that share Lake Chad have also been flooded and this phenomenon will continue until the end of the year,” he said.
M