Reports reachingour news desk from all parts of West, East and Central Africa indicate that as a result of severe rains over the past week unprecedented floods are sweeping across these areas.
As at the time of going to press some 1.5 million people had been affected by the floods. Certified deaths directly attributed to the floods include: 32 in Ghana, 41 in Nigeria, 33 in Burkina Faso,20 in Togo ,12 in Niger ,4 in Somalia ,4 in Morocco , 2 in Mauritania, 64 in Sudan ,21 in Uganda ,18 in Rwanda ,12 in Kenya ,17 in Ethiopia.
The United Nations together with the governments of these 17 countries affected are working hard to provide clean water, food, clothing and shelter to the thousands of displaced people. In East Africa, the brunt of the torrential rain was felt in Uganda, Ethiopia and Sudan. In eastern Uganda over150,000 have been made homeless since August.