Devastating Mauritania Floods Displace Many

Heavy rainfall has caused flash flooding for many towns in Mauritania.

An outpouring of rain from a village situated in the mountains was the cause of the flood, according to the OCHA service Relief Web.

Between the evening of Sunday, the 30th July 2023 until Monday, the 31st July 2023, the Mauritanian department of Boghé was subjected to heavy rainfall, which lasted for several hours and affected 26 towns.

The rainfall left behind 2708mm of water, while some areas were faced with over 150 millimetres of rain, the World Bank’s economic update on Mauritania states.

The area of Boghé was the worst affected, where over 8,000 people have faced effects from the flood, out of the area’s population of 42’546. Most of those affected were located around the water banks of the Senegal River, a report by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), says.

So far, one person has been registered dead in the village of Hamdallah, while 25 people have been injured. Moreover, due to the disaster, over 1’100 people are now displaced, according to the IFRC.

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Extensive damage has been caused to infrastructures and homes. The collapse of houses has displaced several dozen families. The families who have lost their shelter sought refuge in schools.

Source: ReliefWeb / IFRC / World Bank