A torrential overnight rain storm lead to severe flash flooding in Kinshasa on Tuesday, the worst in decades. The flooding is the culmination of months of an unusually wet monsoon. A massive landslide has smothered the main highway connecting Kinshasa to the major port city of Matadi. Nearly 40,000 households were flooded with hundreds completely collapsed and swept away. As of Wednesday night, the death toll is 141 and climbing. This death toll is comparable to those suffered by the nearby countries of Chad and Nigeria in flash flood events in September and October, respectively. Unfortunately, the lengthy rainy season will continue through April.
At least 130 people have been killed in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the #Congo, after heavy storms triggered #floods and triggered #landslides. pic.twitter.com/pA5srca3zc
— Siraj Noorani (@sirajnoorani) December 14, 2022
#RDC / #KINSHASA : No comment 😭. pic.twitter.com/FWdyOHcbfH
— WIFI YA MBOKA SAME WILONDJA (@wifiyamboka) December 13, 2022
Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of Congo, is home to around 15 million residents. One of the fastest-growing cities in the world, the population boom is outpacing residential building by a wide margin. As a result, many Kinshasans live in poorly-built temporary huts and shanties. These structures and those that live in them stand little chance of surviving serious flash flood events like Wednesday’s. These buildings are unauthorized but city officials lack the resources to consistently enforce building codes. Flooding in recent months has also inundated millions of acres of farmland across West and Central Africa. The UN’s World Food Program has warned that nearly 50 million men, women, and children could go hungry in 2023 as a result.