Renewed flooding threatens Niger capital

Terra Daily via AFP: Renewed flooding of the Niger river threatens Niger's capital Niamey and parts of the west of the country, local and regional authorities warned Thursday.

Previous floods in August and September claimed almost 70 lives across the impoverished west African country and made tens of thousands homeless.

"We will be inundated" as of December 5, Niamey governor Aichatou Kane Boulama told a press briefing. She stressed that the consequences would include the flooding of 400 hectares (988 acres), 40 of them in residential areas.

Water has already begun to swamp some low-lying parts of Niamey, Kane Boulama added, saying that "the most urgent thing is to rehouse families"...

Livestock grazing on an island in the River Niger, as seen off a bridge in Niger’s capital, Niamey. Shot by ILRI/Stevie Mann, Wikimedia Commons via Flickr, under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license