rainfall - The African Mirror

Jul

2022

USAID pledges Kenya $255 mln to fight drought, appeals to rich countries to help

THE U.S. development agency USAID said it would give Kenya $255 million in emergency assistance to tackle the severe drought. Some 4.1 million people in the East African nation are facing acute food shortages, the government says, while the number of cases of child malnutrition has surged by half in parts of the country to 942,000 in the last three months. The funding commitment comes in addition to the $65 million that USAID had already provided this year, USAID administrator Samantha Power said. "We need other countries to step up and join us," she said, warning that the food crisis…

Apr

2022

By The African Mirror

Early warnings for floods in South Africa: engineering for future climate change

ENVIRONMENT

SEVERE weather, rain and flooding are at the forefront of the minds of many South Africans, especially those in KwaZulu-Natal. Early last week (11-12 April 2022), the province’s coast received heavy rain, with some areas recording over 300mm in 24 hours. This is about a third of the annual rainfall in KwaZulu-Natal. The rain was caused by a strong cut-off low weather system off the east coast of southern Africa. Cut-off lows frequently occur off this coast during the autumn months. These systems can cause localised flooding as well as large wave events. The port city of Durban (in the…

Sep

2020

By The African Mirror

Severe floods hit 760,000 people in West and Central Africa

NEWS

BOUREIMA BALIMA NIGERIAN student Hachimou Abdou has had to catch a boat to classes since river water swamped his route to university in the capital Niamey - one of about 760,000 people hit by severe flooding in recent weeks in parts of West and Central Africa. Floods are common during the rainy season, but in recent years climate change, land degradation and poor urban planning have led to more frequent disasters as rapidly-growing cities struggle with heavier-than-normal rainfall. Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Ghana, Niger, Mali, Nigeria, Congo Republic and Senegal are among those worst-hit this year, with at least 111…