Severe floods in Nigeria kill more than 600, slow shipments of aid

The heavy flooding in Nigeria, which has covered farms and roads and slowed shipments of food and fuel, has now displaced more than 1 million people from their homes, with the death toll already surpassing 600.
The country’s authorities are struggling to free up the gridlock, as a jump in prices is already making life more expensive for Nigerians. In coastal Kogi state, at Dantata Bridge that provides an important link between northern and southern Nigeria tons of food and fuel stretch for many kilometers, far from their destinations, as the impact of Nigeria’s worst flooding in 10 years unfolds. But weeks of severe flooding in Kogi State have washed away farmland and affected access roads, including Dantata Bridge.
Authorities say more than 2 million people in 33 of Nigeria’s 36 states have been affected. They blame the flooding on torrential rainfalls that started in July and the release of water from Cameroon’s Lagdo Dam. But experts say Nigeria’s poor urban planning scheme made matters worse. In some instances, floodwaters covered rooftops, leaving communities completely submerged. This week, Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari directed emergency responders to scale up their interventions and said up to 12 metric tons of grain are being shipped to the most affected areas to help curb the impact of the floods. But camp officials are reportedly not certain when the aid will arrive and say they’re running out of places to put new arrivals.