• Flooding-induced landslides in northern Tanzania claim 47 lives, leaving 85 injured.
• Katesh town, 300 km north of Dodoma, bears the brunt of heavy Saturday rainfall.
• District commissioner Janeth Mayanja warns the casualty count is expected to rise.

Landslides triggered by flooding in northern Tanzania have resulted in a tragic toll, claiming the lives of at least 47 people and leaving 85 others injured, according to a local official’s announcement on Sunday.

The town of Katesh, situated approximately 300 kilometers north of the capital Dodoma, bore the brunt of heavy rainfall on Saturday. District commissioner Janeth Mayanja warned that the casualty count is expected to increase.

“Up to this evening, the death toll reached 47 and 85 injured,” Queen Sendiga, regional commissioner in the Manyara area of northern Tanzania, told local media.

Landslides triggered by flooding in northern Tanzania have resulted in a tragic toll, claiming the lives of at least 47 people and leaving 85 others injured, according to a local official’s announcement on Sunday.

The town of Katesh, situated approximately 300 kilometers north of the capital Dodoma, bore the brunt of heavy rainfall on Saturday. District commissioner Janeth Mayanja warned that the casualty count is expected to increase.

Both individuals cautioned that the number of casualties was likely to rise. Mayanja mentioned that numerous roads in the region had been obstructed by mud, water, and displaced trees and stones.

Tanzania’s President, Samia Suluhu Hassan, currently in Dubai for the COP28 climate conference, conveyed her condolences and declared an increase in government efforts for rescue operations.

State television TBC broadcasted images depicting numerous flooded homes and vehicles stranded in thick mud.

Following an unprecedented drought, East Africa has been grappling with weeks of heavy rain and floods associated with the El Nino weather phenomenon.

The incessant downpours have displaced over a million people in Somalia and resulted in hundreds of fatalities. In May, Rwanda experienced devastating floods and landslides, claiming a minimum of 130 lives.

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El Nino, a natural weather pattern originating in the Pacific Ocean, induces global heat variations, causing drought in some regions and heavy rainfall in others.

Scientists anticipate the most severe impacts of the current El Nino to manifest towards the end of 2023 and into the next year.

Between October 1997 and January 1998, extensive flooding, exacerbated by intense El Nino rains, led to over 6,000 deaths across five countries in the region.

Scientists assert that human-induced climate change is amplifying the duration, intensity, and frequency of extreme weather events such as floods, storms, droughts, and wildfires.

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