Nigeria experiences worst flooding in 50 years; Officials fear disease outbreaks, food shortages

"Nigeria's worst flooding in at least half a century has killed 363 people since the start of July and displaced 2.1 million people," according to the country's National Emergency Management Agency, Reuters reports. Between July 1 and October 31, 7.7 million people were affected by the flooding and 18,282 people were injured, the agency said, the news service notes (11/5). In makeshift camps without "water, sanitation or medical care, authorities fear outbreaks of disease could make things worse," VOA News reports. In addition, "emergency officials say with tens of thousands of hectares of farmland destroyed, they fear food shortages in the coming months," according to the news agency. In October, "[t]he Nigerian government ... allocated $112 million to help families that have been displaced in 24 of Nigeria's 36 states since the flooding began in July," VOA writes (Murdock, 10/30).