Côte d’Ivoire floods kill 59 as west Africa endures torrential rains

Floods in Côte d’Ivoire have killed 59 people since May, the communication minister told a cabinet meeting in Abidjan.

There are fears the toll could further rise as rescue teams continue to search for victims during the rainy season, which runs from May until July, the minister, Amadou Coulibaly, added.

The deaths are the latest in coastal west Africa, which is enduring relentless, deadly rains that authorities predict could intensify in the coming days. Footage emerged on social media of neighbourhoods submerged in water as residents waded through in search of drier areas.

In neighbouring Ghana, at least 13 people have died even as more than 400 others were rescued on Tuesday, the Ghana fire service said. The president, John Mahama, posted on X that the downpour had been approximately 140mm of rain”, significantly higher than the “highest single-day rainfall recorded last year [of] about 56mm”.

Authorities say the floods have become deadlier as climate breakdown exacerbates the frequency and impact of extreme weather. Despite Africa contributing only minimally to greenhouse gas emissions, the World Meteorological Organisation has said the continent is especially vulnerable to extreme weather events.

However, the impact of poor waste management and urban population growth on existing infrastructure has also been acknowledged as a factor.

After an aerial tour of affected areas on Monday, Mahama explained that Accra was built between the Akwapim mountain range and the Atlantic Ocean, which was not a problem when it had been a small city.

“As the population continues to increase and people continue to build, it restricts the path of the streams on the way to the Atlantic … there is also human behaviour [of] dumping garbage in the drains … Even in the air, we discovered many illicit dumping sites where wetlands are,” he added.

In Accra and the nearby city of Tema, rains submerged buildings and roads, cutting off access. In some areas fires started after electrical installations were flooded.

Floods also hit parts of Benin, Togo and Nigeria, with no confirmed casualties. In Lagos, Nigeria, where several islands are connected to a large mainland area, flooding halted operations at a transmission substation, disrupting electricity supply to several neighbourhoods.

The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has predicted “above normal” rainfall in Abuja and nine states this year. Some of the states are in the north, which experienced what was described as the worst flood in 60 years last year. Between last December and February, southern and northern Africa were similarly affected by deadly floods.