Flooding is a recurrent and devastating environmental disaster across Africa, posing a significant threat to sustainable development. This article delves into the multifaceted causes of floods in Africa, examining the interplay of natural and anthropogenic factors, and their far-reaching impacts on public health and socio-economic stability.
Trends and Impacts of Flooding in Sub-Saharan Africa
In the past decade, sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has experienced a surge in the intensity of floods. Flooding is the most frequent environmental disaster, affecting over 2.8 billion people globally and causing over 200,000 deaths in recent decades. The aim of this review is to assess the trends of flooding events and the impacts of floods on the health of the human population in SSA. Its objectives are to describe the causes of floods, flood types, what are its drivers (determinants), and finally describe the health impacts of floods.
Worldwide, floods have increased in frequency and intensity, causing significant environmental destruction and impacting economies and human activities. These events claim approximately 20,000 lives and adversely affect around 20 million people globally each year.
The effects of flooding vary widely, and can be difficult to predict. Floods have also devastated infrastructure, which can leave communities isolated and complicate aid delivery. Flooding can cause loss of life, displacement, and extensive damage to infrastructure and economies. It leads to health risks from waterborne diseases, food shortages, and environmental degradation.
Classifying Floods
Floods can be classified in a number of ways. Different types of floods can have different effects in terms of their impacts, property damage, and their impact on the affected community. Broadly, floods are classified into pluvial (overland), fluvial (river), and coastal (surge) floods, groundwater floods, or failure of artificial water systems.
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Pluvial Floods
Pluvial floods can cause surface water and flash floods. Surface water floods occur when the urban drainage system is overwhelmed and water floods onto the streets. On the other hand, flash floods are sudden and appear unnoticed as a result of torrents of water triggered by intense rainfall (or a sudden release of water from a dam.) Often, they are very destructive because of debris that is swept along with the stormwater.
Fluvial Floods
Fluvial (river water) floods are frequently associated with violent convection storms of brief duration falling over a little area. It occurs when heavy torrential rain creates a flood event independent of an overflowing water body. This usually unfolds over days or even months. Fluvial floods are the commonest type of flood and occur when water in a river, lake, or stream rises and overflows onto the surrounding banks, shores, and land.
Coastal Floods
Coastal (surge) floods occur where low lying normally dry lands is flooded by seawater. Storm surges are the leading cause of coastal flooding and are formed when high winds push the water on shore. Areas along the coast get flooded often due to phenomena like tsunamis, hurricanes, and unusually high tides.
It is difficult and or almost impossible to describe the commonest type of flood in any area. This is because a flooding event is often always a mixed event. A combination of flood types can occur within a country and city.
Causes and Determinants of Flooding in Africa
The occurrence of a flood depends on a variety of factors; meteorology, topography, land use, soil type and antecedent moisture conditions. It is difficult to separate the effects of natural climatic fluctuations and anthropogenic influences.
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Climate Change and Extreme Weather Events
Many scientists believe that climate change is causing more extreme weather events worldwide, including in South Africa. Global temperatures are rising, leading to changes in rainfall patterns. South Africa has already seen shifts in its climate, with more intense droughts in some areas and heavier rains in others.
The link between extreme weather events like flooding and climate change is undeniable. Heavy and intense rainfall has become commonplace across Africa in recent months thanks to increasing global temperatures, leaving affected communities vulnerable to poor living conditions. This is because the warmer the atmosphere gets the more water vapour is stored.
Climate change may not be the sole cause of these floods, but it is amplifying their intensity and frequency. As warmer air holds more moisture, heavy rainfall events become more severe, increasing the likelihood of flooding. Climate change is also responsible for inundation in coastal areas across Africa in that it triggers a rise in sea levels. This happens because the warmer the planet gets the more glaciers melt, causing fresh water to flow into oceans.
Natural weather cycles like the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) and the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) influence rainfall patterns, sometimes bringing extreme weather.
This year has seen unprecedented global flooding, impacting regions across Central Asia, East Africa, West Africa, Southeast Asia, and Central Europe. Man-made problems like urbanization and dam failures can lead to flooding, with poor drainage and excessive development increasing flood risks in cities by limiting water absorption and structural failures of dams or levees releasing large volumes of water.
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| Region | Fatalities (Estimated) | People Displaced (Estimated) | Impacted Countries |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Africa | >2,500 | >4,000,000 | Nigeria, Chad, Mali, Senegal |
| East Africa | Data Unavailable | Data Unavailable | Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania, Burundi |
| Source: Africa Center for Strategic Studies, 2024 | |||
Urbanization and Deforestation
There is no doubt that SSA is undergoing rapid and unprecedented urbanization. Urbanization is the rate of movement of people from rural to urban areas for better opportunities, it has been seen as leading cause of flooding in flood-prone African urban areas. Currently, African continent has a population growth rate of 2.6% per annum and is expected to double by 2050. Africa’s urban population is expected to triple from 548 million in 2018 to 1.5 billion in 2050.
The infrastructural expansion that happens during urbanisation involves putting up impervious surfaces like roads, sidewalks, and parking areas. Urbanisation also diminishes wetlands by encroaching on them to sustain the rapid growth of cities.
“Despite being the second continent with the largest forest cover, Africa loses forests to the tune of over three million hectares annually. Deforestation is a major factor in the climate and nature crisis. When trees or forests are cut down, stored carbon dioxide is released back into the atmosphere, increasing greenhouse gas levels, which are responsible for global warming. Deforestation also amplifies the severity of floods through increased surface runoff as the loss of tree and vegetation cover means less absorption of rain water.
The unprecedented, rapid urbanization in SSA is worsening flash floods as it increases the vulnerability to floods of some 238 million people who live in informal settlements.
In Africa’s rapidly urbanizing cities, flood risks need to be taken into consideration together with other environmental factors in formulating future plains to make cities more resilient and sustainable.
Poor Infrastructure and Waste Management
Poor drainage systems are also a serious problem aggravating floods in Africa. For instance, poor waste management in many informal settlements results in blocked drains. The African continent is rapidly urbanizing without requisite infrastructural base required to sustain the growing population.
Generally, the developing countries have a poor waste management system especially for solid waste. This is quite pervasive in SSA as the practice of dumping refuse on every available land, including roadsides, and drainages is quite common. In many cities, refuse spreads across the road thereby blocking traffic. This is compounded by the ever increasing millions of tonnes of refuse generated as a consequence of population growth and urbanization.
Governance and Institutional Weaknesses
Poor governance and institutional weaknesses in the system at all levels of government has made it difficult to discharge constitutional responsibilities in managing the cities across the continent. The roles and responsibilities are not clearly delineated, there is poor inter-sectoral coordination and capacities of agencies to manage floods are weak.
Case Studies: Recent Flooding Events
South Africa has recently faced devastating floods destroying homes, infrastructure, and even loss of lives. In early 2025, several regions of South Africa, including Gauteng, North-West, KwaZulu-Natal, and parts of the Eastern Cape, experienced heavy rains leading to severe floods.
KwaZulu-Natal was severely impacted by heavy rainfall in February 2025, triggering deadly mudslides and widespread flooding. In Gauteng, February 2025 saw a severe storm in Pretoria, causing flooding and significant wind damage.
East African countries were yet to recover from the four-year drought that had hit the region when the El nino weather phenomenon occurred. This weather pattern triggered floods and landslides that began in late October and lasted through to January, worsening living conditions for vulnerable communities.
Heavy and intense rainfall has become commonplace across Africa in recent months thanks to increasing global temperatures, leaving affected communities vulnerable to poor living conditions. This is because the warmer the atmosphere gets the more water vapour is stored.
DRC’s catastrophic floods were a topic of concern early in the year, with 18 of its 26 provinces experiencing the most devastating floods in over five decades. This extreme weather event left over 2 million people vulnerable, more than half of these being children. Nearly 100,000 houses were also damaged along with thousands of schools and hundreds of hospitals.
Libya’s catastrophic floods, which began in September 2023, triggered widespread destruction through the country’s regions and claimed thousands of lives. Amid the flooding prompted by tropical Storm Daniel, two dams collapsed in the city of Derna, releasing an estimated 1 billion cubic metres of water into already flooded regions. Upwards of 11,000 people died as a result and over 10,000 others were reported missing.
The causes of flooding
Health Impacts of Flooding
Flooding increases the risk of damage to water distribution systems and treatment facilities, limiting communities’ access to clean and safe drinking water. The loss of homes and other property is also a financial setback for households as they are forced to start over.
While gender-based violence is not a direct result of flooding, some of the adverse impacts like displacement have been shown to increase women and girls’ risk of experiencing violence. During the El Nino weather phenomenon in late 2023, Plan International conducted a needs assessment in Marsabit and Tana River counties in Kenya and confirmed that flooding heightens the risk of gender-based violence.
Mitigation and Prevention Strategies
To mitigate future risks, South Africa must invest in stronger infrastructure, improved forecasting systems, and sustainable environmental policies. While climate change is a global challenge, proactive local measures can help reduce flood damage and protect vulnerable communities.
Building resilience to floods and minimising their devastating impacts in Africa requires us to collectively take proactive steps towards resolving the issue. Minimise your carbon footprint by engaging in activities that produce less greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
African countries need to prioritise sustainable urban planning to reduce flood risks. For instance, upgrading flood defences can minimise the possibility of inundation. In addition, robust early warning systems can reduce flood risks such as loss of life by alerting vulnerable communities in a timely manner.
References
- EWN. (2025). Storm causes flooding, homes & buildings sustain wind damage in Pretoria. Eyewitness News.
- Lee, H., Calvin, K., Dasgupta, D., Krinner, G., Mukherji, A., Thorne, P., Trisos, C., Romero, J., Aldunce, P., Barret, K. and Blanco, G., 2023. IPCC, 2023: Climate Change 2023: Synthesis Report, Summary for Policymakers. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Core Writing Team, H. Lee and J. Romero (eds.)].
- News24, 2025. Three people die in mudslides as severe flooding ravages KZN.
- OFM.,2025. North West floods: Heavy rains leave residents, road users stranded.
- South African Weather Service., 2025. Media Release: Expected heavy rain a threat to motorists and the public during the weekend.
- Zhang, C., 2013. Madden-Julian oscillation: Bridging weather and climate.
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