Chad: MSF Urges Humanitarian Response to “Worst Floods”

Displaced citizens due to the Floods all over eastern Chad, Aug 2024 Photo: MSF_España

August 20, 2024 Hour: 5:08 pm

The “devastated” town of Koukou in eastern Sila province is the worst affected

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) called for a “rapid response from more humanitarian organisations” on Tuesday in the face of “the worst floods ever recorded in eastern Chad”, which have already caused at least 64 deaths and affected over 260,000.

The “devastated” town of Koukou in eastern Sila province is the worst affected, and “thousands of people have fled from the waters, sought shelter on a hill and face desperate shortages of food, shelter, drinking water and health care”, MSF lamented in a statement.

Since the beginning of August, Chad, like other African countries such as Togo, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Niger and Mali, has been suffering from heavy rains and rising water levels.

“We heard how houses were collapsing around us. People saw their houses collapse before their eyes,” MSF coordinator in Sila, Julie Melinchar, said in the statement.

⛆ "La gente tenía que nadar"

Miles de personas sufren las peores #inundaciones que se recuerdan en Chad 👇https://t.co/hCBXnmPZZg pic.twitter.com/rC4jGnrs5K
— Médicos Sin Fronteras (@MSF_Espana) August 20, 2024

“People had to swim” Thousands of people suffer the worst floods that can be remembered in Chad

Due to the rainfall, many wells are flooded and contaminated, and people are forced to drink stagnant water.

Food stocks have also been affected in an area where a food crisis existed before the floods.

The medical and humanitarian organization, which is present in Koukou, urged other NGOs to provide emergency aid both to this town and to the rest of Sila province to give a “quick and coordinated response” and prevent the natural disaster from becoming “in a humanitarian catastrophe,” in the words of Melinchar.