ReliefWeb

Description of the disaster

On the night of 18 to 19 June 2018, stormy rainfall of unprecedented intensity fell on the Côte d’Ivoire capital, Abidjan and many other cities. Following this heavy downpour, several neighbourhoods in Abidjan and in country towns including Tiassalé, Toulepleu, Sanpedro registered significant material and human damage caused by ensuing floods and accompanying landslides in some high-risk areas. These landslides occurred in mainly illegal settlements and Government is taking steps to relocate residents.

The six districts of Abidjan: Abobo, Adjamé Attécoubé, Cocody, Kumasi, Yopougon were all flooded with different needs and priorities.

In some neighbourhoods of Cocody, such as Riviera Palmeraie and especially the street called "Rue Ministre", flood water has destroyed a lot of precarious houses along 03 to 05km. Still in this neighbourhood, the water (flood water level elevated at 1.5m) has flooded the regularly built homes carrying all their resident goods and food stuffs.

Affected families have either relocated to host families or in transit sites like churches, schools, etc. While extreme weather continues, their current shelter solutions do not meet basic requirements, exposing children and most vulnerable people to the risks of respiratory and waterborne diseases.
Among the cities in the interior of the country, it is the city of Tiassalé located at about 100km from Abidjan which has experienced severe floods and loss of lives. Other cities equally experienced the havoc caused by flood water, but with less intensity. These are the cities of Ouragahio (Gagnoa) located in the center west of Côte d’Ivoire and the city of Toulepleu (bordering Liberia).

Seasonal forecast data provided by SODEXAM (the Government meteorological agency) announces torrential rains in the following days and weeks with higher flood probabilities than those recorded in previous years.

As the peak of raining season is expected from July to August, quick actions must therefore be taken to reduce the potential impact of additional flood episodes and for those currently affected, to enable them to regain their dignity.

This operation will be limited to the following targets identified by a rapid assessment conducted by the Red Cross Society of Côte d’Ivoire (RCSCI) from 19 to 23 June 2018. However, continuous assessments and monitoring of the situation will be used to adapt programming and review the plan of action of this operation