Fifteen people died on Friday due to torrential rains in the city of Maradi (center-south), the economic capital of Niger, the governor of the county of the same name, which is located near Nigeria, announced yesterday on Sunday.

Maradi prefecture has been the hardest hit by the heavy rains that have swept Niger since June, a vast country that is largely covered by desert and is being tested by climate change.

“We have recorded 15 loss of human life, we have also recorded injuries and very heavy property damage,” governor and police officer Isoufou Maman told Télé Sahel public television.

Mr. Maman assured that he is in the process of “relocating” those affected.

On Friday in Maradi, “150 millimeters” of rain was recorded in a period of “one hour and 30 minutes”, said a correspondent of the public television in the region.

Footage broadcast by the station shows rushing currents of water that caused landslides and collapsed houses, while sweeping away motorcycles, vehicles, trees, shops…

In some areas, the water caused damage to water and electricity networks, Télé Sahel said.

In addition, “many districts were flooded” as gutters that allowed rainwater to run off “came in” due to the pressure of the currents, a Maradi resident told AFP.

On national highway number 1, which connects Maradi in particular with Zinder, the country’s second most populous city, traffic was “suspended,” he added.

The Maradi hospital, one of the largest in the country, decided yesterday to offer free treatment to those affected.

In less than three months, rainy season floods across the country have killed at least 217 people, injured another 200, and affected a total of more than 350,000, according to the latest official tally, released on August 22 by the government.

Last week, flooding disrupted vehicular traffic at the exits of the capital Niamey; traffic has since been restored.

In mid-August, the Niger River Basin Authority warned residents of the capital that a “rapid rise” in water levels was not ruled out. At the urging of the military regime, some residents left their homes on the banks of the river.