8.18 meters this Wednesday, October 9, 2024, the Chari River reached an unprecedented level swollen by the heavy rainfall falling on Chad. While the floods caused by violent rains have already killed nearly 600 people and affected nearly 2 million people, the capital Ndjamena is now facing river floods. Prime Minister Allah-Maye Halina called a crisis meeting this Wednesday with several ministers and the army to call for “general mobilization”.
A sign of the urgency of the situation, the meeting is being held in the presence of the army chief of staff, the commanders of the various army corps, several ministers and the mayors of Ndjamena as well as its various districts.
Prime Minister Allah-Maye Halina: “We are meeting this morning to take practical steps and concrete actions that can help us deal with this situation. The waters continue to rise and we must act very quickly so as not to have any surprises. Today, September 9, 2024, the level is 8.18 meters compared to 7.16 meters in 2022 and 6.53 meters in 2020. Every day, the water rises by three centimeters. »
The river level is already one meter higher than that recorded during the devastating floods of 2022. “Every minute is precious,” said the head of government. From this evening, we must be on the ground in order to resolve the critical points. Defense and security forces are called to mobilize. I call on companies to show their solidarity as corporate citizens by mobilizing their machines to make land and embankments available which will be used to build dams. »
Several localities in the 9th arrondissement located before the dike are already submerged, their inhabitants have fled. While the river begins to overflow towards Moursal. And that central districts like Klemat and Kabalaye are in places invaded by wastewater due to the closure of outlets.
On the ground, it is by canoe that we now reach Tougoudé in the 9th arrondissement. “All you see around you is the flooding of the Chari and Logone rivers and that has caused flooding all around,” explains Ezéchiel Minnamou Djobsou, deputy coordinator of the Jeunesse active association. If the water continues at the current rate, the situation risks getting worse because the height of the water increases by 10cm per day. »
Mallone Diennadji who paddled from Amnabak two kilometers away recounts the situation in his locality: “Our crops are on the water, especially the rice submerged by water. We don’t have the food at the moment. Finding food at least once a day is a problem. »
The inhabitants found refuge on the other side of the dike in N’Dou which took on the appearance of a refugee camp. “It was especially this night and this morning that a lot of people arrived,” explains Alphonse Hoursou, 52 years old and affected by the disaster. You see, they haven’t found a safe location yet. But it could be even worse, because we are afraid that the dike will give way and then we risk being in the water again. »
