Deadly floods in West Africa – Togo, Benin and Ghana hit by heavy rain

Heavy rain over the last 2 days has caused flooding in the west African countries of Togo, Benin and Ghana, reports Floodlist.com. Just last week the World Bank approved a new US$40 million International Development Association (IDA) credit for Benin to improve its infrastructure and minimize the negative impacts of the 2010 floods as well as increase the level of preparedness for any future flooding.

According to the article, in 2010 the heavy rains in Benin created unexpected rising water levels that overwhelmed the country’s traditional preventive response and resilience mechanisms. As a results 278 schools were flooded and more than 50,000 houses were destroyed leaving 150,000 people without shelter. The 2010 floods ruined 128,000 hectares of crops and farmland and an estimated 12,000 metric tons of food stocks were lost because of destroyed storage facilities.