Torrential rains in the south of Chad - Flash Update

Over the course of March and April 2024, torrential rains killed one person and injured 45 more in the southern provinces of Mandoul and Logone Oriental. Significant material damages have also been reported.

According to local authorities, 650 households (3760 people) have been affected, 692 houses collapsed, 20 classrooms were damaged, 700 trees were uprooted, 2,000 sacks of cereals damaged and 130 heads of cattle missing, in Debadene 4 in the Barh-Sara department of the Mandoul province, and in the villages of Meurmeouel and Kairati in Miandoum canton, Nya department, of the Logone Oriental province.

Initial rapid assessments by local authorities listed priority needs as food, shelter, and non-food items. OCHA is currently mobilizing humanitarian and development actors to conduct a rapid multi-sectoral needs assessment, as well as assistance, in the affected localities. Humanitarian actors, including UNFPA, UNHCR, and World Vision have pre-positioned some stocks to respond to the affected population by delivering clothing, mosquito nets, dignity kits and tarps. However, the most critical gap remains in securing food assistance.

As a reminder, heavy rains and river flooding affect the southern provinces usually occur on a yearly basis. These climatic events are understood to be increasingly volatile and severe. While the 2023 season was marked by a critically low level of rain, which greatly reduced crop production, over 1.9 million people were affected by nation-wide flooding in 2022, including nearly 750,000 people in the southern provinces.

In addition to the damaging impact of rains and river flooding in the southern provinces, the March 2024 Cadre harmonisé (harmonized framework, an analysis of the food insecurity situation) estimates that one million people will be food-insecure during the 2024 lean season (June to August) in the same zones. This number could increase drastically in the absence of emergency assistance and livelihood support.

The 2024 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan seeks to provide critical humanitarian assistance to over 1,6 million people in the southern provinces of Chad. Thus far, 6.1% ($68 million) of the $1,125 billion needed to support 4.6 million people has been mobilised nationwide.