Tanzania: An official in northern Tanzania has reported that flooding has caused landslides that have resulted in at least 47 deaths and 85 injuries, with warnings that the number could rise.
Katesh, which is located about 300 kilometers (186 miles) north of the capital Dodoma, experienced heavy rain on Saturday, according to district commissioner Janeth Mayanja.
“Up to this (Sunday) evening, the death toll reached 47 and 85 injured,” Ms. Queen Sendiga, regional commissioner in the Manyara area of northern Tanzania, told local media.
Both cautioned that there would probably be more deaths. Many of the area’s roads were obstructed by mud, water, and uprooted trees and stones, Ms. Mayanja said.
Tanzania’s President, Ms. Samia Suluhu Hassan, in Dubai for the COP28 climate conference, sent her condolences and said she ordered the deployment of “more government efforts to rescue people.”
Following an unprecedented period of drought, El Nino-related torrential rain and flooding have devastated East Africa for several weeks. El Nino is a naturally occurring weather pattern that comes from the Pacific Ocean and causes global warming. It causes heavy rains in some places and droughts in others.
In addition to displacing over a million people, the downpours in Somalia have claimed hundreds of lives. At least 130 people lost their lives in Rwanda due to terrible floods and landslides brought on by the heavy rains in May this year.
Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and intense in the Horn of Africa, making it one of the most vulnerable regions to climate change, as per the statement.
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