BRAZZAVILLE, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) -- At least 17 people were killed and more than 320,000 people were affected by flooding induced by torrential rains in recent weeks in the Republic of the Congo, said Prime Minister Anatole Collinet Makosso via a statement released late Friday.

Heavy rainfall caused the total or partial flooding of 361 villages and 36 neighborhoods in several departments of the country, namely Likouala, Sangha, Cuvette, Plateaux, Niari, Pointe-Noire and Brazzaville.

According to the statement, the number of affected residents far exceeds that of past years.

"To date, there have been 17 deaths recorded in the departments of Likouala, Plateaux, Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire. People went missing and more than 2,292 hectares of cultivated land has been flooded," read the statement, noting that sources of drinking water supply have been polluted by the flooding.

To deal with this worrying situation, the prime minister announced a flood contingency plan and declared a humanitarian emergency in the most affected departments. The Congolese government also established an emergency fund in coordination with UN agencies.

According to experts cited by local media, the precipitation recorded is twice the usual average. The water level of the Oubangui River, a major tributary of the Congo River, has reached a record height over the 2022-2023 period.

The gauging done at the watercourse between Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of the Congo, showed the water level of the Congo River reached 5.9 meters, close to the historic high of 6.26 meters, said the Waterways Authority of the neighboring DRC in a statement released Friday, warning possible floods that could cause human loss and water-borne diseases.

Kinshasa and Brazzaville face each other across the Congo River. Enditem

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