Over 300 people have died as a result of flooding that has affected the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Congo Republic in recent months, as the Congo River has reached its highest level in over 60 years, according to officials.
Climate change has increased the frequency of strong rains, which in certain African nations have resulted in flash floods due to poor urban design and inadequate infrastructure.
Hydrology specialist Ferry Mowa of the DRC Riverways Authority, a division of the Transport Ministry, stated that his office had alerted him to the high water level in late December, noting that it might potentially affect nearly the whole flood plain of Kinshasa, the capital city, which is situated on the banks of the river.
On Wednesday, the river reached 6.20 meters (20.34 feet)above sea level, just shy of the 1961 record of 6.26 meters, he told Reuters, adding that the flooding had followed exceptionally high rains inland.
“It is imperative that people who live around the river move”, Mowa said.
Several neighbourhoods in DRC’s densely populated Kinshasa have flooded, as well as communities in more than a dozen provinces, the social affairs ministry said.
Nearly 300 people have died and 300,000 households have been affected, with tens of thousands of houses destroyed, it said in a statement last week.
In neighbouring Congo Republic, whose capital Brazzaville also sits on the banks across the river, at least 17 people have died in floods across eight departments including the capital, with more than 60,000 households affected, authorities told newsmen.
