![]() | This article needs to be updated.(February 2024) |
Meteorological history | |
---|---|
Duration | 5 February 2023 –28 December 2023 |
Flood | |
Overall effects | |
Fatalities | 2,683 [lower-alpha 1] |
Injuries | 2,158 [lower-alpha 2] |
Missing | 2,658 |
Areas affected | Angola,Cameroon,Democratic Republic of the Congo,Ethiopia,Kenya,Madagascar,Malawi,Mozambique,Rwanda,Sierra Leone,Somalia,South Africa,Tanzania,Uganda,Zimbabwe |
Houses destroyed | 146,066 |
From February to late-December 2023,floods killed over 2,600 people in 15 countries across Africa.
Frequent heavy rains causing damage and casualties between March and May are common in East Africa –in May 2020 around 80 people were killed by floods in Rwanda. Floods and droughts have increased in Rwanda over a 30-year period. [1] Rwanda's weather authority attributes the unusual rainfall patterns to climate change. [2]
In 2023,several rounds of heavy rain saturated the ground,increasing the likelihood of flooding. Between January and April 2023,the Ministry of Emergency Management reported that weather-related disasters caused 60 fatalities,destroyed over 1,205 homes and damaged 5,000 acres of land across Rwanda. [3] On 2 May,the Rwanda Meteorology Agency predicted above-average forecast rainfall for the next 10 days. [4] The Rwandan government previously[ when? ] asked residents living in wetlands and other dangerous areas to relocate. [3]
Uganda had also experienced heavy rain since March,which had caused landslides that destroyed homes and displaced hundreds of people. [5]
Floods formed by various causes killed 1,216 people in Malawi,552 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,198 in Mozambique,186 in Kenya,160 in Somalia,135 in Rwanda,95 in Tanzania,40 in Madagascar,29 in Ethiopia,18 in Uganda,15 in South Africa and another in Cameroon. [5]
In early September,floods caused by torrential rain killed at least eight people in western Algeria. [6]
In Angola,at least 20 people died and 2,900 homes were destroyed by flooding in April. [7]
One person died,five were injured and six were missing as a result of floods that struck Buea,Cameroon in March. [8]
On 3 April, a landslide killed 30 people and left several missing in North Kivu Province. [9] Another landslide hit North Kivu Province on 8 May, killing six and leaving dozens of miners missing. [10]
At least 440 people were killed and over 2,500 others were left missing by floods in the villages of Bushushu and Nyamukubi in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo on 5 May. [11] [12] [13] In response to the flooding, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Felix Tshisekedi announced a national day of mourning for 8 May. [12] Two landslides hit North Kivu Province on 9 May, killing ten people in Lubero and at least six people at the Songambele mine, and leaving dozens of miners missing. 100 workers were at the mine at the time of the landslide. [14] [15]
Southeastern parts of the country were affected by flooding on 28 December, killing 60 people, leaving 16 others missing, destroying over 100 houses and damaging 1,400 others, mostly in the Bukavu area. [16]
Floods affected parts of Ethiopia in March, killing 29 people and affecting 240,000 others. [17]
Floods affected several regions of Kenya in late March, killing 12 people, injuring five and displacing 812 families. [18]
In April, four people died and around 36,400 people were affected by flooding in the west and northeast regions of Kenya. [19] [20]
Throughout November, the northern part of the country was affected by the worst flooding observed in Kenya for over a century. At least 170 people and tens of thousands of livestock were killed and over 600,000 others were displaced. [21]
Cyclone Cheneso killed 33 people and left 20 missing in Madagascar, with many homes affected. [22]
At least 17 people died and three were missing due to floods caused by Cyclone Freddy. [23] [24] A total of 6,706 houses were destroyed by the cyclone. [25] [26]
In March, the long-lived Cyclone Freddy hit Malawi, causing flooding which killed 1,216 people, including 537 missing and presumed dead, [27] injured 1,724 others [28] and affected over 500,000 residents in the country. [29]
Due to Cyclone Freddy, at least 198 people died [30] and 201 were injured by flooding in Mozambique. [31] At least 131,300 homes destroyed in the country. [32] [33]
Thirty-two people died, 30 were injured and 110,000 more were affected by floods caused by torrential rains between June and September. [34]
Heavy rain started around 16:00 UTC (6 p.m. local time) on 2 May 2023 and continued throughout the night, killing at least 135 people. [35] [5] The Sebeya River burst its banks. [5] The most affected areas in Rwanda were Rutsiro, Nyabihu, Rubavu, and Ngororero. [5] More rainfall is expected during the rest of the month. According to François Habitegeko, the governor of Rwanda's western province, people were crushed by the collapse of several houses, and landslides made the main roads in the area impassable, along with flooded fields. [36] [37] 4,100 livestock were killed as well. [4] Landslides and flooding destroyed 26 bridges and 17 roads, five health centers, two health posts, and a hospital. 5,100 homes were destroyed and an additional 2,500 were damaged. [38] Rwanda's public broadcaster RBA stated that the number of casualties may increase as floodwaters continue to rise. [2]
A storm brought heavy rain from 9 to 10 May, which caused floods and mudslides that killed at least seven people in the capital Freetown. [39]
In Somalia, hundreds of homes were damaged and there were 20 deaths (including a mother and her two children), [40] two injuries and 8,000 people were affected due to floods in Bardhere District on March 24. [41]
Flooding in May killed an additional 22 people and over 460,000 people were affected. [35]
Throughout October and November, floods killed 118 people, damaged 224 schools and displaced 1.2 million people across the country. [42]
There were 15 deaths and four missing in eastern South Africa due to floods that lasted from February to March. [5]
In April 2023, seven people died, six were missing, 1,400 were displaced and 60 houses were destroyed by floods in Rukwa. [43] In December 2023, dozens were killed in floods. [44] The floods affected the Hanang region. [45]
In early December, floods and landslides in Hanang District killed 88 people, injured 139 others, damaged or destroyed 1,245 houses, and affected 10,090 people. [46] [47]
At least 23 people were killed, [48] [49] including five from a landslide, three were injured and three were left missing by floods in Uganda. Many houses were damaged or destroyed in the country. [50]
Two people were killed in Zimbabwe after Cyclone Freddy hit the country. [51]
Marie-Solange Kayisire, the Minister of Emergency Management, said that relief efforts started immediately. However, continued disruptions by heavy rain hampered efforts to help bury victims of the flooding disaster and providing supplies to victims whose homes were inundated. [52] The Rwanda Meteorological Agency warned that additional rainfall is likely. [53] According to Francois Habitegeko, some people were rescued and transported to hospitals. [5] The Red Cross assisted with relief efforts. [5] Marie-Solange Kayisire, the minister in charge of the emergency department, called on local residents to increase patrols and law enforcement. [36]
Kalehe Territory is a territory in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its administrative centre is the town of Kalehe on the western shore of Lake Kivu. Other important towns include Buguli, Bunyakiri, Kalangala, Kalungu, Minova, and Nyamasasa.
The 2018 East Africa Floods were a natural disaster in Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda, Somalia, Djibouti, and Burundi affecting millions of people. They began when excessive rains began falling in March 2018 following a year of severe drought, leading to massive flooding, landslides, and the failure and overflow of several dams. Record rainfall was recorded in several areas, surpassing various records set during the 1950s and during the 1997–98 El Niño event. Nearly 500 people have lost their lives while hundreds of thousands of others have been displaced.
Tropical Cyclone Dineo was one of the deadliest tropical cyclones on record in the South-West Indian Ocean and Southern Hemisphere as a whole. It was the first tropical cyclone to hit Mozambique since Cyclone Jokwe in 2008.
At least 30 tropical cyclones have affected the Southern African mainland. Three southeastern African countries border the Indian Ocean – Tanzania, Mozambique, and South Africa. Other inland countries also experience the effects of tropical cyclones, including Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
The 2020 East Africa floods were a natural disaster in Rwanda, Kenya, Somalia, Burundi, Ethiopia, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti and Tanzania, affecting at least 700,000 people. They began when excessive rains began falling in March, leading to massive flooding and landslides. They caused more than 430 deaths, notably in Kenya and Rwanda. In the fall another round of floods hit the African Sahel.
The following is a list of weather events that occurred on Earth in the year 2020.
Tropical Cyclone Eloise was the strongest tropical cyclone to impact the country of Mozambique since Cyclone Kenneth in 2019 and the second of three consecutive tropical cyclones to impact Mozambique in the 2020–21 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season. The seventh tropical depression, fifth named storm and the second tropical cyclone of the season, Eloise's origins can be traced to a disturbance over the central portion of the South-West Indian Ocean basin which developed into a tropical depression on 16 January, and strengthened into a tropical storm on 17 January, though the storm had limited strength and organization. On the next day, the storm entered a more favorable environment, and it soon intensified to a severe tropical storm on 18 January. Late on 19 January, Eloise made landfall in northern Madagascar as a moderate tropical storm, bringing with it heavy rainfall and flooding. The storm traversed Madagascar and entered the Mozambique Channel in the early hours of 21 January. After moving southwestward across the Mozambique Channel for an additional 2 days, Eloise strengthened into a Category 1-equivalent cyclone, due to low wind shear and high sea surface temperatures. Early on 23 January, Eloise peaked as a Category 2-equivalent tropical cyclone on the Saffir–Simpson scale as the center of the storm began to move ashore in Mozambique. Shortly afterward, Eloise made landfall just north of Beira, Mozambique, before rapidly weakening. Subsequently, Eloise weakened into a remnant low over land on 25 January, dissipating soon afterward.
The 2021 floods and landslides in Sri Lanka are flash floods and mudslides which were caused from heavy torrential rainfalls during May and June 2021. As of 7 June 2021; the monsoon floods affected in about 10 districts, killing at least 17 persons including about 10 because of floods and 4 people because of mudslides. About 245,000 people were affected living in Colombo, Puttalam, Kandy, Kalutara, Kurunegala, Gampaha, Nuwara Eliya, Ratnapura and Galle. More than 800 houses were reported to have been damaged.
In 2021, Niger has been affected by subsequent floods due to heavy rains, causing several deaths and widespread damage nationwide. Niamey is the most affected area. At least 62 people died, 60 were injured and 105,690 individuals have been affected by the floods. Most fatalities were reported in Maradi Region with 18 deaths.
The following is a list of weather events that occurred on Earth in the year 2022. The year began with a La Niña. There were several natural disasters around the world from various types of weather, including blizzards, cold waves, droughts, heat waves, wildfires, floods, tornadoes, and tropical cyclones. The deadliest weather event of the year were the European heat waves, which killed over 26,000 people, 11,000 of which were in France. The costliest weather event of the year was Hurricane Ian, which caused at least $112.9 billion in damages in Florida and Cuba. Another significant weather event was the Pakistan floods, which killed 1,739 people and a total of $14.9 billion in damages.
Throughout 2022, floods affected most of Africa, killing over 2,100 people. The worst affected country was Nigeria, with over 610 deaths.
In early 2022, heavy rain caused large floods to hit the city of Bukavu, South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
After over 6,500 people died in flooding in 2020, monsoon floods hit South Asia again in 2021.
The following is a list of weather events that occurred on Earth in the year 2023. The year saw a transition from La Niña to El Niño, with record high global average surface temperatures. The several weather events which had a significant impact were blizzards, cold waves, droughts, heat waves, wildfires, floods, tornadoes, and tropical cyclones.
Very Intense Tropical Cyclone Freddy, also known as Severe Tropical Cyclone Freddy, was an exceptionally long-lived, powerful, and deadly tropical cyclone that traversed the southern Indian Ocean for more than five weeks in February and March 2023. Freddy was the longest-lasting tropical cyclone ever recorded worldwide, traveling across the southern Indian Ocean, Mozambique, and Madagascar for 36 days, surpassing the record set by Hurricane John in 1994. Freddy also produced the most Accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) of any individual cyclone. Additionally, it is the third-deadliest tropical cyclone recorded in the Southern Hemisphere, only behind 2019's Cyclone Idai and the 1973 Flores cyclone. Freddy was the third named storm of the 2022–23 Australian region cyclone season, and the second very intense tropical cyclone of the 2022–23 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season. Freddy first developed as a tropical low on 4 February 2023, while it was situated south of the Indonesian archipelago. As it traveled westward across the Indian Ocean, the storm quickly intensified, becoming a Category 4 severe tropical cyclone.
Many countries allocated relief aid items to southern Africa after Cyclone Freddy, with a main focus on the humanitarian crisis in Malawi. Items included hygiene supplies, food rations, and safe drinking water among other things Total donations reach the millions in USD, and there was also a primary focal point on the historic and ongoing outbreak of Cholera in the region. Several nations also expressed condolences to Malawi, Mozambique, and Madagascar. The widespread and prolonged impacts prompted extensive relief efforts from the affected nations and multiple intergovernmental agencies. UNICEF and the WFP provided relief items for those affected, as well as temporary shelters.
The 2023 African Great Lakes floods are floods in April and May 2023 that have killed hundreds of people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Uganda.
The weather of 2012 marked the fewest fatalities from natural disasters in a decade, although there were several damaging and deadly floods, tropical cyclones, tornadoes, and other weather events. These include blizzards, cold waves, droughts, heat waves, and wildfires.
Flooding affected parts of South Asia since March of 2023, killing many and destroying buildings.