User:Md1897/sandbox

Since late 2019 torrential rain has caused rivers throughout both the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the Republic of Congo (RoC) to flood. The rain led to flooding in 16 of 26 provinces of DCR and 8 out of 12 departments of RoC. In DCR alone, government figures indicated over 923,00 people were affected by the floods and hundreds of thousands of people were displaced.

1.   Health Consequences – Immediate:
The populations affected by the Congo River floods face numerous immediate health challenges as a result. Homes, property, and livelihoods were lost or negatively affected. Crops and agricultural land were severely impacted too, leading to increased risk of food insecurity. This has led to large scale population displacement and therefore the risk of waterborne disease increased due to poor hygiene conditions and difficulty accessing safe water. (Insert: vector borne diseases such as malaria). Hospitals, schools, and public buildings were, in many cases, flooded and thus, severely affecting access to basic services.

2.   Health Consequences - Longer term:
These floods have heightened the vulnerability of populations who were already facing challenges reaching their daily basic needs. Fears have been raised that the floods will lead to a large-scale expansion of the current cholera outbreak in DRC.

3.   Immediate mortality:
At least 41 people were killed in Kinshasa City the capital city of DR Congo due to landslides that were the result of heavy overnight rain on the 25th and 26th of November 2019. 17 fatalities were also reported around the Mont Ngafula commune, and the communes of Lemba and Cite Universitaire were also affected having reported at least 15 fatalities. Heavy floods beginning earlier in October 2019 left at least 6 fatalities in Kinshasa.

 To add: fatalities RoC