Chad's President Mahamat Idriss Deby declares state of emergency as flood affects millions of people

The central African country, Chad's President Mahamat Idriss Deby declared a state of emergency yesterday as the country struggles to deal with exceptional flooding that has affected millions of people.

The President said that heavy floods in the Central African country are affecting 636 localities in 18 of its 23 regions. He said that it is causing tens of thousands to flee and decimating thousands of hectares of cultivated land.

According to media reports, the government has



put in place a response plan to provide shelter, food, and sanitation. Chad has two main rivers, the Chari and Logone, which flow through its southern provinces and empty into Lake Chad, at the border area with Niger, Nigeria, and Cameroon.

According to the UN's Human Development Index, Chad is the third poorest country on the planet.

The United Nations has said that around 5.5 million people in the country need emergency humanitarian aid.