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Floods in Southwest Congo Kill at Least 50


Flooding this week in the Democratic Republic of Congo port city of Boma killed at least 50 people and left another 10,000 homeless, authorities told Reuters on Wednesday.

Torrential rain Monday night caused the Kalamu River to overflow, flooding two districts of the southwestern city, said Therese-Louise Mambu, health minister for Kongo Central province.

"The damage is very serious," she said. "We continue to look for other bodies."

Resident Jeanne Nzita told Reuters: "Everything was taken away — the windows and the doors. All that remains of our house is the walls and the roof."

Scientific models predict that climate change will bring increased rainfall to central Africa over the course of this century. Central and western parts of the Congo Basin are expected to be worst hit.

Dozens died late last year in the capital Kinshasa as it recorded unusually heavy rains during the rainy season.

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    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

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