2009 West Africa floods
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| Meteorological history | |
|---|---|
| Duration | June–September 2009 |
| Overall effects | |
| Fatalities | At least 193 deaths[1] |
| Damage | At least $152 million |
| Areas affected | Benin, Burkina Faso, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone |
The 2009 West Africa floods are a natural disaster that began in June 2009 as a consequence of exceptionally heavy seasonal rainfall in large areas of West Africa. [1][2] Several rivers, including the Pendjari, Niger, Volta and Senegal rivers, broke their banks, causing destruction of houses, bridges, roads and crops.[2] The floods are reported to have affected 940,000 people[1] across 12 countries, including Burkina Faso, Benin, Ghana,[3] Niger,[4] Senegal,[5][6] Guinea, and caused the deaths of at least 193 people.[7][8] In Burkina Faso, one of the most affected countries, 150,000 people fled their homes, mostly in the capital Ouagadougou where rainfall in one day was equal to 25% of normal annual rainfall for the whole country.[7][8][9]
Countries in West Africa and the southern Sahel get most of their annual rainfall during the boreal summer months from June to September.[10] This rainy season, also known as the West African monsoon, is associated with a seasonal reversal of prevailing winds in the lower atmosphere, where moist air is blown in from the Atlantic Ocean and released over the continent.[10]
The exceptionally heavy rainfall experienced in West Africa during the 2009 monsoon season is associated with the periodic warming of the Pacific Ocean, a phenomenon known as El Niño, which affects weather worldwide.[11]