Seventy-five people have died and more than a thousand others have been affected by heavy rains that have hit Niger since June, with more expected next September, authorities in the normally dry country said Tuesday.

As of August 28, 75 people have died, including 54 due to house collapses, 21 drowned, more than 108,000 people have been injured and 102 injured, according to figures provided to AFP by Civil Protection.

Among the hardest hit areas were Moradi with thirty dead and Zinder with 23 dead, while rainwater destroyed or damaged more than 12,700 houses and caused the destruction of treatment centers and wheat warehouses.

The government and its partners confirmed that they had distributed more than 628 tons of grain to the victims, and the Met Office reported heavy rains expected by the end of September in the country.

In the capital, Niamey, floods are feared in the Niger River in the coming days due to water levels “rising very quickly to danger levels”, according to the Niger Basin Authority, and heavy rains. in the capital, which has a population of two million, caused a strong and deadly flow of water in the river.

All of this is contributing to a severe food crisis in Niger, with health authorities saying more than 4.4 million people are “seriously” food insecure, about 20% of the country’s population.