• The UN World Food Programme (WFP) reports severe flooding in Eastern DR Congo, affecting about half a million people.
• The crisis has led to widespread diseases, poor sanitation, and the risk of animal-borne diseases.
• Locals report sightings of hippos, crocodiles, and snakes in flooded areas, risking fatal attacks.

On Wednesday, the UN World Food Programme declared that severe flooding has struck Eastern DR Congo, leading to a “humanitarian catastrophe” that affects about half a million people.

“Heavier rainfall than usual during the rainy season, prompted by climate change, has forced rivers and lakes to overflow, swallowing towns, villages, and roads on the shores,” the WFP said in a report citing “chaos” in South Kivu and Tanganyika provinces.

The worst-affected provinces are Haut-Lomami and Tanganyika, which border the lake of the same name as well as neighboring Burundi, Tanzania, and Zambia.

“All around Lake Tanganyika, and areas upstream of the Congo River basin, people have lost their homes, their fields and livelihoods,” the WFP reported, estimating 471,000 people were affected with 451,000 hectares (1.1 million acres) flooded, including 21,000 hectares of cropland.

“All our harvests and seeds are gone.”

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Heavy rains are wreaking havoc across eastern #DRCongo, affecting thousands of families like Kato’s. pic.twitter.com/yPA26Ha05w

— World Food Programme (@WFP) May 5, 2024

“People in flooded areas need food, shelter, clean drinking water, health and sanitation support, as well as support to restart their livelihoods.

“However, WFP has very limited resources to respond to the flooding crisis due to current funding levels and the food assistance pipeline situation. “Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

“With towns and villages swallowed in the lakes and rivers, diseases are rife. Latrines have overflowed into the water that surrounds people’s homes and sanitation is poor.

“People are forced to wade through and wash their clothes and cooking implements in cholera-riddled water,” said the report, warning of “a whole host of animal-borne diseases.”

Locals reported seeing hippos, crocodiles, and snakes in flooded inhabited areas, risking fatal attacks, especially on children and livestock.

Amid lost harvests, “people are struggling to feed their families which is leading to more people arriving in health care facilities with symptoms related to months of poor food intake. Especially children are at risk of developing malnutrition.”

Flooding has struck vast swathes of Africa in recent weeks, notably claiming 257 lives in Kenya, according to the latest toll on Wednesday.

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