The flooding of the Senegal River leaves behind a spectacle of desolation in the north of the country. The waters ravaged several thousand hectares of land and forced several thousand people to abandon their homes. In the Podor department alone, 67 villages and localities were affected, thirteen in Dagana and two in Saint-Louis. A situation that these populations had not experienced since the end of the 1950s.
In total, 8,112 victims were recorded throughout the Saint-Louis region as of October 21. Inhabitants who have lost almost everything: their homes, their cultures and the little comfort to which they were entitled in this place where almost everything was already lacking. These localities have neither electricity nor drinking water, like the village of Loboudou Doué, which is completely submerged.
A never ending battle
In this village, there is only a group of young people left who are trying to save what is left. While women, children and the elderly have been evacuated, they fight every day against the advancing waters which continually pierce the makeshift dikes installed using bags filled with clay sand. Precarious means, symbol of the helplessness of these inhabitants in the face of the fury of the waters.
“At night, one group watches while the others sleep. As soon as the dike gives way somewhere, we all run to seal it. It’s the same during the day”explains Aly Diack, resident of Séroum. Houses collapsed, others flooded, the damage here is enormous. “There were many people who had sown onions, but everything was spoiled by the water. With the advance of the flood, they lost everything”deplores Bocar Alassane Sall, affected.
It is in a former warehouse, around twenty kilometers from their village, that most of the victims are relocated. Several dozen families are crowded there in precarious conditions. “We worry about our families. Every parent would like their family to live in good conditions, eat well, sleep comfortably. But today, we no longer have all that”notes Fatoumata Dieng, mother of 6 children.
Orange vigilance required
With tears in her eyes, this forty-year-old sees the future with great uncertainty. This dismay is all the greater as the local administration is seriously lacking funds to meet the needs of these displaced people. But on site, everyone is mobilizing to support them. Mamadou Diallo, municipal secretary. “The means are limited. The mayor has authorized the execution of two budget lines of around 5.3 million. But the procedures remain at the state of commitment and the mayor has contacted the tax collector so that people are diligently”assures Mamadou Oumar Diallo, municipal secretary.
But the municipality can count on the State of Senegal which has released a provisional budget of 8 billion CFA francs to help the affected populations. Means which appear insufficient, given the extent of the damage, including some 4,000 hectares of land destroyed in the Saint-Louis region. Overall, there are no major changes, most of the flooded areas remain on orange alert, according to the alert plan of the Organization for the Development of the Senegal River (OMVS).
