from ROSY SADOU in Yaoundé, Cameroon
Cameroon Bureau
YAOUNDE, (CAJ News) – THE death toll following flooding and landslides in Cameroon is likely to rise beyond 30 as search and rescue operations progress.
An unknown number of people remain missing amid the disruption across parts of Yaounde City and the surrounding areas after the inclement weather in Mbankolo municipality on Sunday.
At least 100 houses in the municipality have been destroyed.
Further flooding is likely in the region during the remainder of the rainy season through the end of November.
The Meteorological Department has forecast sustained heavy rainfall to trigger flooding in low-lying communities near rivers, streams and creeks.
Urban flooding is also possible in developed areas with easily overwhelmed storm water drainage systems.
Sites located downstream from large reservoirs or rivers are at risk of flash flooding while landslides are possible in hilly or mountainous areas.
Authorities were to issue mandatory evacuation orders for flood-prone communities over the coming days.
Disruptions to electricity and telecommunications services were likely where significant flooding or landslides impact utility networks.
This is the latest major flooding and landslides crises in the Central African country this year as climate change takes its toll.
An estimated 3 000 people were affected in March in the southwestern town of Buea.
In July, five people died from similar setbacks in Limbe in the southwest.
Rains flooded more than 1 700 hectares of crops between July and September.
Cameroon has recently hosted over 2 400 people displaced by floods in neighbouring Chad.
– CAJ News