Dam collapse killed 30 and displaced 240,000 in Nigeria - Storm Yagi killed 200 in Vietnam
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Extreme weather is believed to be the cause of a dam collapse in eastern Nigeria, which has forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee. In Vietnam, almost 200 people are dead in Storm Yagi.
In the flooded city of Maiduguri, residents were warned about crocodiles from the city's zoo that had been swept into the community according to several international media.
“Some dangerous animals have been washed into our communities, including crocodiles and snakes,” the zoo manager said to AP.
The devastation is immense following Tuesday’s disaster when the Alau Dam in the state of Borno, eastern Nigeria, broke. Parts of the nearby state capital, Maiduguri, were submerged, with the floods being described as the worst in the state in 30 years.
Since the collapse, an intense rescue effort has been underway to assist those who couldn’t escape in time.
“We’ve used canoes and fishing boats to reach flooded communities and rescue stranded residents,” said Zubaida Umar, director general of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), to AFP.
At least 30 dead and 240,000 evacuated
At least 30 people have died in the floods. In Maiduguri, 240,000 of the city’s 1.9 million residents have been forced to leave their homes, according to the UN’s humanitarian agency, OCHA.
2.3 million affected this year
A total of one million people have been affected by the floods in Borno, according to the state’s governor. The process of documenting displaced people is still ongoing, and the number is feared to rise to two million.
The state government attributes the dam collapse to unusually heavy rainfall in recent times. Nigeria and West Africa have experienced the most flood-affected year in decades.
According to the UN, over 2.3 million people have been affected so far this year, three times as many as last year. The UN and other experts link the increasingly frequent extreme weather in the region to climate change.
At least 197 dead in Vietnam in the wake of Storm Yagi
On Saturday, Storm Yagi hit Vietnam, causing widespread devastation across the country.
At least 197 people have died, and around 800 have been injured, according to local authorities.
Approximately 150 people are still missing, and large-scale rescue operations are ongoing after Storm Yagi, described as the worst in decades, struck Vietnam's northern coast, Reuters reports.
The floods have caused damage to several warehouses and factories in Hanoi, forcing many to shut down. It may take weeks before they can resume normal operations.
The heavy rains have triggered multiple landslides, primarily in northern parts of the country. According to local authorities, more than 200,000 hectares of farmland have been destroyed, writes Reuters.
The disruption could affect global shipping, as Vietnam receives many cargo ships that transport goods to the U.S., Europe, and other countries.
Central parts of the capital, Hanoi, are also at risk of flooding, and businesses in the area have begun evacuations.
Due to the heavy downpours, several rivers in northern Vietnam have risen to levels not seen in the past 20 years. On Monday, a bridge over the Red River in Phu Tho province, west of Hanoi, collapsed. Ten cars and trucks, along with two motorcycles, were swept away.
Several areas have also had their electricity cut off for safety reasons.
More rain is expected in the coming days, according to the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting.
