Cameroonian officials have declared a humanitarian emergency after rising seas from the Atlantic Ocean devastated hundreds of homes, buildings, and plantations along the country’s coastline.
Waves pound the walls and buildings built on the coasts of Bekumu, a southern Cameroonian town in Ndian, an administrative subdivision that covers parts of Cameroon‘s 400-kilometer Atlantic coast.
Images broadcast on Cameroon official television this week show residents pleading for assistance.
“If the government does not help immediately, if the government does not do something urgently, I don’t believe Bekumu will exist again. The water level is so high. “What is this, Oh God?”
The civilian is not recognised in the video, but the Bekumu Village Development Committee stated in a release that it posted photographs of the civilian calling out for help to raise the notice of their plight.
According to Bekumu locals, advancing seawater last week wrecked homes, public structures, and plantations, leaving several hundred people homeless.
The Cameroonian government claims that high waves stormed into Bekumu, damaging coastal towns, plantations, schools, churches, and markets.
Civilians claim they lack potable water because seawater swept and dumped wastewater into streams that are considered a source of drinkable water.
Sangi John is the traditional king of Bekumu Village. He told VOA on Wednesday via a messaging app that this is the first time that advancing seas from the Atlantic Ocean had created such havoc in Bekumu. He claimed heavy tidal waves early Wednesday destroyed parts of school buildings and churches where homeless civilians sought refuge.
“The disaster is so serious, the water has washed from the schools to people’s houses, right to all churches. Water is everywhere. I am appealing for the government to help us,” he said.
Sangi stated that dozens of citizens have fled to safer settlements, while three dozen more are caught in creeks, waiting for assistance to relocate. He warned starvation looms as water destroys hundreds of hectares of farmland.
Fishermen, farmers, and merchants account for 75 percent of the population in affected villages. They claim that economic activity has plummeted due to encroaching ocean seas, which have also killed goats and swept away chicken farms.
In August of last year, when seawater swept through the coastal town of Kribi, swallowing homes and plantations, CEMAC, a six-member economic bloc consisting of Cameroon, Chad, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, the Central African Republic, and the Republic of Congo, stated that the ongoing rise in sea levels was potentially catastrophic for an economic bloc in which 30% of civilians live along the coastline.
The Cameroonian government has traditionally blamed increasing sea levels and global warming for ocean water encroaching on its coastal areas.
Cameroon’s ministry of agriculture says the continued floods in Ndian contribute to the humanitarian emergency declared in response to food shortages caused by flooding in numerous sections of the central African state. The government claims to have despatched humanitarian personnel and specialised military services to rescue citizens, but provides no further specifics.
