Nigeria races to assist flood victims; death toll tops 600

 

The death toll from floods in Nigeria this year has increased to 603 as local authorities race to get relief items to hundreds of thousands being evacuated from their submerged homes. 

More than 1.3 million people have been displaced by the disaster, which has affected people across 33 of Nigeria's 36 states, the nation's humanitarian affairs ministry said late Sunday. The flooding has worsened the humanitarian crisis in Nigeria where armed violence especially in the troubled northern region has already displaced more than 3 million people, according to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center. 

“We are calling on the respective state governments, local government councils and communities to prepare for more flooding by evacuating people living on flood plains to high grounds," Farouq said. Last week, President Buhari approved 12,000 metric tons of grains for the flood victims, the humanitarian affairs minister said.