According to Aeronautical and Meteorological Exploitation and Development Company (Sodexam), heavy rainfall is expected throughout Ivory Coast from March to July.
Rainfall amounts of between 335 and 350 millimeters are expected in the Center and between 417 and 865 millimeters on the southern coast. However, “from 100 millimeters of rain, we enter the red zone of risk of flooding”, warns Sodexam. Faced with these forecasts, the authorities are on alert. And the inhabitants of frequently flooded areas too.
In the Mossikro Santé 3 district, the scars of the heavy rains are still visible.
This area is marked by piles of tires and sandbags. In the rainy season, residents are exposed to landslides from the hill overlooking the neighborhood. “Often it collapses, it falls on the houses, it crushes people,” explains Abou, a resident.
Some families were evacuated. And some arrangements have been made to prevent the houses from being flooded, as Ali Ouédraogo explains: “They came to tell us that the houses which are on the edge of the hills must be evacuated. We also saw that it caused a lot of problems. Now there is the road where the water goes. They came to help us clear, to create other ways for the water to pass. Now people don’t come to build on the edge of the hill anymore. »