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During the last few months of the rain season between July to September is the most disastrous time for people along rivers in West Africa. Most of those affected are poor people that squat along the river banks in big cities for hope of better living conditions. Every year a lest 200 people die due to flood and most of the victims are poor women and children.
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Most of the deaths and suffering related to flood come at the aftermath of the flood. Poor sanitation and hygiene contribute to communicable diseases like cholera and diarrhea. Flooding destroy the food source of families as a result children and women become malnourished.
One of the major cause of flooding in West Africa is the lack of adequate infrastructural to control the over flow of water across the the banks of rivers and the lack of proper sewage system to control the flow of rain water and city waste.
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The 2012 rain season was one of the worst in the recent history of Nigeria. heavy rain at the end of August and the beginning of September led to serious floods in most parts of the country. The heavy rain fall at the end of Septermber lead to overflow the destroyed river banks and infrastructure, loss of property and livestock and flash floods in many areas (reliefweb 2012). By 29 September reliefweb reported that the floods had affected 134,371 people, displaced 64,473, injured 202 and killed 148 people.
Flooding do not only have physical impact on a nation and its people. Flood have a strong negative impact on people ranging from the increase in the mosquito population which lead to malaria, destruction of water and food source which lead to cholera and malnutrition. The worst of all is the mental health associated with the destruction of home and property and the feeling of starting over and a new life.
ref: http://reliefweb.int/disaster/fl-2012-000138-nga
