Torrential rains inundate West Africa
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INTRO: Torrential rains have soaked much of West Africa, killing at least five people and causing 150 thousand others to flee.
Burkina Faso is one of the worst affected countries, as we hear from Elizabeth Byrs, spokesperson for OCHA, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs:
Byrs: And already 100 thousand ten have been relocated in the city of Ouagadougou in the capital, which is also flooded by these unusual strong rains. This situation worsened the beginning of September, first of September. And in particular on the third of September, the city of Ouagadougou received 300 millimetres of rain during this date - it was a deluge - and to give you a comparison, Burkina Faso received one thousand two hundred millimetres of rain per year. It shows the importance and the huge amount of water which fell on Burkina Faso and Ouagadougou. But Burkina Faso is not the only country, which is affected. You have also Benin. Benin floods started in July and the United Nations had already dispatched there in July an expert team to assess the situation to support the authorities, but you have also Ghana, where 25 people died from the bad weather and from the floods. The death toll is likely to increase in the coming days. We have five people drawn in Burkina Faso and we hope that this death toll is not going to dramatically rise in the coming days. But the rainy season is of particular concern this year.
Maigua: Burkina Faso appears to be the country worst affected. You said 110 thousand people have been displaced. Where are these people? Where are they being housed?
Byrs: They have been housed - they find shelter within the city itself, where the government has provided 93 buildings, 93 shelters for these people. Some of them are in host families, and unfortunately some of them are still without shelter. This is the main concern for the authorities and also for the relief agencies.
Maigua: And is the UN providing any assistance to the government, or has the government asked for any assistance?
Byrs: The government of Burkina Faso requested international assistance because the situation is pretty bad, so many public infrastructures have been destroyed, bridges have been washed away, the main road is damaged and above all, the main hospital in Ouagadougou had to be evacuated because it was flooded.
Narrator: Elizabeth Byrs speaking to our colleague, Patrick Maigua. (duration: 2'38")
According to the United Nations' humanitarian agency, severe flooding in Burkina Faso has affected over 100,000 people, following the country's heaviest rainfall for ninety years.

Thousands of homes in the vicinity of Ouagadougou, the country's capital, have been destroyed by the waters. Officials requested international aid for those affected by the disaster.

"I would like to join the government's appeal for blankets, clothes and food, because there really is an urgent need for these things," Ouagadougou's mayor Simon Compaore said.

The Belgian Red Cross' Rosine Jourdain said that "bridges and dams have been destroyed, the main hospital in Ouagadougou which is close to a dam was inundated and some patients including about 60 children were evacuated. An electrical plant was also destroyed, so I think we are going to have some power supply problems."

Flooding has also affected the neighbouring countries of Benin, Ghana, Guinea, Niger, and Senegal.

The UN says it is worried that water-borne illnesses, such as cholera and malaria, could start spreading due to the flooding.