Nigeria floods: At least 111 people dead as Nigeria battles climate change, dry spells and rainfall

(AP) Torrents of predawn rain unleashed flooding that killed at least 111 people in a market town where northern Nigerian farmers sell their wares to traders from the south, officials said Friday as they predicted that the death toll would grow.

The Nigerian Hydrological Services Agency did not immediately say how much rain fell after midnight Thursday in the town of Mokwa, which sits in the state of Niger more than 180 miles (300 kilometers) west of Abuja, capital of Africa’s most populous nation.

Communities in northern Nigeria have been experiencing prolonged dry spells worsened by climate change and excessive rainfall that leads to severe flooding during the brief wet season.

In videos and photos on social media, floodwaters covered neighborhoods and homes were submerged, with their roofs barely visible above the brown currents. Waist-deep in water, residents tried to salvage what they could, or rescue others.

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