Attachments
A. SITUATION ANALYSIS
Description of the disaster
On 29 November 2021, the Congolese government reported that 71,690 people were affected by flooding, mainly in the departments of Likouala, Cuvette, Plateaux and Sangha. According to UNOSAT (United Nations Satellite Centre), a total of about 3,500 km2 of land was to be affected by the flood waters. In addition to these affected localities in the countryside, several neighbourhoods in the cities of Pointe-Noire and Brazzaville were affected, where several thousand people were forced to leave their homes and lost their livelihoods. In response to this disaster, the Congolese government declared a state of emergency by letter No. 210844/PM/CAB of 29 November 2021.
Based on the assessments conducted by the local authorities with humanitarian partners, the rains had a negative impact on agricultural crops, thereby worsening the precariousness and poverty of the local population, especially as the rainy season had started has lasted since September of the same year.
Humanitarian actors on the ground reported in January 2022 that the water had almost completely receded from plantations, leaving behind damage to agricultural production (OCHA, January 2022). The districts of Mossaka, Loukolela, Owando, Oyo, Makoua and Ntokou had 7,526 people living in flooded areas and 0.01 km² of flooded agricultural land, while Makotimpoko, Mpouya, and Gamboma districts had 2,826 people living in flooded areas. To note, most refugees (from the Central African Republic) and asylum seekers (from the Democratic Republic of Congo) present on Congolese territory are settled in the departments of Likouala and Plateaux, which further exposed them to flooding, exacerbating their vulnerability due to their poor livelihoods.
However, in March 2022, another series of heavy rains caused flooding in the capital Brazzaville, with three deaths reported in the Manianga district where the rubbles of a wall collapsed during the rain. Similar damages were registered across the city. Community discussions in the Makotimpoko districts revealed that flooding is a regular occurrence and happens every year between October and March. These communities have developed coping strategies that vary between households; some move to neighbouring localities, set up small areas on high ground and others live in large dugouts.