Meteorological history | |
---|---|
Duration | June–September 2009 |
Overall effects | |
Fatalities | At least 193 deaths [1] |
Damage | At least $152 million |
Areas affected | Benin, Burkina Faso, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone |
The 2009 West Africa floods are a natural disaster that began in June 2009 as a consequence of exceptionally heavy seasonal rainfall in large areas of West Africa. [1] [2] Several rivers, including the Pendjari, Niger, Volta and Senegal rivers, broke their banks, causing destruction of houses, bridges, roads and crops. [2] The floods are reported to have affected 940,000 people [1] across 12 countries, including Burkina Faso, Benin, Ghana, [3] Niger, [4] Senegal, [5] [6] Guinea, and caused the deaths of at least 193 people. [7] [8] In Burkina Faso, one of the most affected countries, 150,000 people fled their homes, mostly in the capital Ouagadougou where rainfall in one day was equal to 25% of normal annual rainfall for the whole country. [7] [8] [9]
Countries in West Africa and the southern Sahel get most of their annual rainfall during the boreal summer months from June to September. [10] This rainy season, also known as the West African monsoon, is associated with a seasonal reversal of prevailing winds in the lower atmosphere, where moist air is blown in from the Atlantic Ocean and released over the continent. [10]
The exceptionally heavy rainfall experienced in West Africa during the 2009 monsoon season is associated with the periodic warming of the Pacific Ocean, a phenomenon known as El Niño, which affects weather worldwide. [11]
220,000 people [1] have been affected, mostly in coastal areas, and 7 people are reported to have died. [2]
150,000 persons displaced and 8 were killed following the heaviest rainfall seen in the country's capital Ouagadougou in 90 years. An estimated 110,000 people were displaced after a dam break of the Loumbila reservoir located in the center of Ouagadougou. [1] [2]
In the south of the country, the Bagre Dam had to open its main gate as water reached maximum safety levels on 4 September. The resulting increase in water flow is threatening large areas along the shores of the Volta river in southern Burkina Faso and northern Ghana. [3]
In Gambia 15,617 people were affected by floods. [1]
139,790 have been affected, and at least 24 killed. [1] [2] 139,709 have been affected by flood
40,000 people have been affected in the capital Conakry and the towns of Kindia and Siguiri. [1] [2]
Torrential rains, causing mudslides and floods, killed at least 19 people in the capital Abidjan and affected around 2000 people. [1] [2]
In Liberia 584 people were affected by floods, leaving 2 deaths. [1]
In Mali 18,902 people were affected by the floods. [1]
3,000 persons were left homeless due to floods in the city of Rosso, located on the banks of the Senegal river. [2] An estimated total of 9000 people were affected in the country. [1]
Flash floods, following 4 days of intense rainfall in Niger's northern Aïr Mountains affected 3,500 homes in Agadez and surrounding areas, causing 2 deaths, and losses in livestock and crops. [2] [4] The total number of affected people has mounted to 79,129 and 3 deaths. [1]
30,000 households have been affected by floods in the capital Dakar and other parts of the country, with an estimated 264,000 affected and 6 deaths. [1] [2]
Floods caused by two weeks of heavy rainfall in August, left 15 deaths and 425 displaced in Freetown. Crops were washed away in six villages in the Kambia District. [2] The total number of affected people in the country is reported to be 1,455 with 103 deaths. [1]