The 2022 Chadian floods began in the Republic of Chad during July 2022 and currently continued till September 2022 following the heaviest rains in the country since 1990.[2][1] An estimated 442,000 Chadians had been affected or displaced by flooding by the end of August 2022, including in large parts of the national capital, N'Djamena.[2]
Cause
Chad, as well as neighboring countries across Central and West Africa, experienced above-normal rainfall during July and August 2022, causing floods in many countries.[2] According to Idriss Abdallah Hassan, an official with the Ministry of Civil Aviation and National Meteorology, the government weather agency, "The country has not recorded such a quantity of rainwater since 1990."[2]
Damage
Twenty-two people had died as a result of the floods by mid-August 2022, according to a report by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).[1] An estimated 442,000 people were displaced by flooding by the end of August 2022.[2] Officials with the state weather agency described the flooding as "catastrophic".[2]
Flooding destroyed an estimated 2,700 hectares of crops and arable farming land during August 2022.[1]
Parts of the city of N'Djamena were hit particularly hard by the floods, with areas of the capital accessible only by boat.[2] N'Djamena's Eighth District flooded beginning in July 2022 and remained underwater in early September 2022.[2] According to Chadian officials and residents of the Eighth District, all of the district's neighborhoods were flooded.[2] Residents sought shelter in other parts of the city.[2]