Caritas Niger has appealed for US$900,000 (600,000 euro) to provide help to households affected by flooding. It is the third Caritas organisation in West Africa to make an emergency appeal following Senegal and Burkina Faso.

“In Niger, the rains usually mean a good harvest and are a cause for joy, but the rain and floods that came this month have just caused chaos,” said Abdou Galadimi Souleymane from Caritas Niger.

Caritas aims to help 9000 people in Agadez and Tillabéry. This will include those whose houses have been destroyed by the floods, who have lost cattle and crops and who have not received adequate help since the disaster.

People will be provided with shelter, blankets, mosquito nets and cooking utensils. A hygiene kit containing items such as soap and bleach will help protect people from the outbreak of disease.

Heavy rain at the beginning of September caused a dam to burst outside Agadez.

Up to 100,000 people have been affected by the floods in Agadez and Tillabéry. Around 5000 hectares of crop land have been destroyed as well as up to 4000 heads of cattle.

Such losses have been a further blow to the fragile food supply in Niger, where frequent droughts put many people at risk of hunger. The wells that people rely on for their water have also been affected by the floods.