Residents of makeshift camps in the Democratic Republic of Congo say they are living in poor conditions after flood waters hit the provinces of Ituri and Mongala, as well as the capital Kinshasa, last December.
The floods occurred after one month of exceptionally heavy rainfall, which also triggered deadly landslides and collapsed buildings.
The torrential rains swelled the Congo River to its highest level in over 60 years and forced around 500,000 people to flee the rising waters.
A resident of one of the makeshift camps set up on the grounds of a Catholic church on the outskirts of the capital, Kinshasa, says his family is struggling to cope.
Crowded spaces
"It's been almost a month since we left our homes because of the flooding... We are suffering," said Cyprien Seka, who is also a father of three.
"The night here is horrible. There are many people spread out, crowded... it's suffocating; you cannot breathe," said 55-year-old grandmother Pansel Moto Pamba.
Sixteen of Congo's 26 provinces are grappling with the fallout from the floods, which killed at least 221 people and exposed already vulnerable communities to increased risk of malaria and typhoid, according to the Congolese authorities and medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières.
Congo had the second-highest rate of tree cover loss in the world in 2022, after Brazil, according to Global Forest Watch.
State of emergency
The loss of tree cover and roots ''exacerbates flood risk because a forest's canopy and roots trap rainwater and lessen flows into rivers,’’ said hydrologist Raphaël Tshimanga at the University of Kinshasa.
A state of emergency was declared after the flooding incident, as was the release of approximately $4 million in emergency funds aimed at providing humanitarian aid to those affected.
The DRC is prone to recurrent flooding along the Congo River corridor, affecting around 170,000 people each year, according to the UN.
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