KIGALI, Rwanda

More than 700,000 people across West and Central Africa have been affected by severe flooding triggered by climate change so far this year, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Tuesday.

Floods have destroyed or damaged more than 60,000 houses, leaving more than 54,000 women, children and men homeless and displaced, OCHA said in a statement.

Also affected are schools and medical facilities, while access to healthcare and education has been hampered.

It said at least 72 people are reported to have died due to drowning and nearly 700 others have been injured.

The countries affected include the Central African Republic, Chad, Ivory Coast, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Niger, Nigeria, Mali and Togo.

Chad is the worst-hit, where over 245,000 people were affected by high water in just a few weeks.

“Every year, we sound the alarm on the effects of climate change and what it means for people’s actual lives -- their homes, their ability to farm and to eat, to send their kids to school, to access basic healthcare,” said Charles Bernimolin, the head of the UN Humanitarian Coordination office for West and Central Africa.

“Meaningful and strategic investments need to be made to ensure communities are prepared and that the worst impacts are mitigated ahead of time,” he said.

The 2024 seasonal forecast predicted above-average cumulative rainfall from June to August and July to September in areas prone to flooding in the Sahel region and some countries in West Africa.