Deadly flooding in Africa leaves corpses of crocodile, snakes floating among human bodies

A wave of deadly flooding in West and Central Africa left the remains of crocodiles and snakes floating among human bodies.The torrential rains have killed more than 1,000 people and displaced hundreds of thousands more across the region this year — with Chad, Nigeria, Mali and Niger being especially impacted.Over 4 million people in West Africa have been affected by flooding this year, a threefold increase from 2023, according to the United Nations.So far, at least 230 people have been found dead in Nigeria; 265 in Niger; 487 in Chad; and 55 in Mali, which experienced its most catastrophic flooding since the 1960s.One of the hardest-hit cities is Maiduguri, the capital of the Nigerian state of Borno.Resident Saleh Bukar, 28, said he was woken up last week around midnight to the sound of his neighbors yelling, “Water is flooding everywhere!” “They were shouting: ’Everybody come out, everybody come out!”Some elderly people and those with disabilities were left behind, he said.Those who did not wake up in time drowned immediately.Aishatu Ba’agana, a mom of three, had to abandon her new baby as she was overwhelmed by the water surging over her house.“I yelled for my family to help me get my child, but I don’t know if they were able to.

I haven’t seen any of them since,” she said.At the end of this week, 15% of Maiduguri remained underwater, according to local authorities – and the forecasts predicted more rains across the area.The floods displaced at least 600,000 people in Boro, while at least 100 were killed and 58 injured, the UN reported.The flooding also killed about 80% of the animals at the Borno State Museum Park and several reptiles escaped. The city’s main prison was so badly damaged that hundreds of inmates escaped, while the waters tore down the walls of the local police station and some government posts.Important infrastructure — including two dikes of a dam along Lake Alau — were also swept away.When the dam failed, 540 b...