Chad: More than 340,000 people were affected by the floods
Aerial view of IOM/Anne Schaefer in August 2022 in N'Djamena, the capital of Chad, after heavy rains.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs released a report on Friday that torrential rains caused unprecedented flooding in the central African country of Chad, which has affected the lives of more than 340,000 people. More than 250,000 people in Chad were also affected by flooding last year.
The soaring river level has destroyed nearly 2,700 hectares of crops and farmland and hundreds of homes, while record rainfall over the past month has threatened food security and livelihoods, the report said.
Adverse effects of climate change
The International Organization for Migration said that although parts of Chad face heavy rainfall every year, rainfall in 2022 is unprecedented, and such extreme weather patterns reflect the adverse effects of climate change in the region.
It is distinguished by an increase in the number of storms, while becoming more varied, leading to sudden flash floods of greater intensity, which have devastating consequences, especially for the population in rural areas.
Heavy rains struck the IOM chad and flooded the capital, N'Djamena.
Aid is underfunded
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is currently supporting efforts to respond to the emergency at the national and humanitarian levels in Chad and providing emergency relief to the most affected groups, but these assistance is being hampered by underfunding.
Anne Schaefer, head of the Chadian office of the International Organization for Migration, said the rainy season in Chad would continue until October, but the humanitarian situation was already critical and severe.
"As the rains continue, we expect more people to be displaced, but the emergency reserves of all humanitarian actors for assistance have been exhausted," she said. ”
As of this month, humanitarian personnel working on the ground in Chad received only 33 per cent of the humanitarian funding needed in Chad for the entire year. To that end, the Government of Chad and the humanitarian community jointly issued an urgent appeal to donate US$ 5.2 million to the people affected by the floods to provide shelter, basic necessities and protection.
Data collection and sharing
In addition, IOM, through its Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM), in collaboration with Chadian authorities and local authorities, is developing and rolling out a flood data collection mechanism to better serve the humanitarian response by documenting the impact of floods on critical infrastructure and the basic situation and needs of those affected.
The mechanism will also include an information-sharing platform that enables key actors and information providers to report and publish useful flood data on a regular basis.
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