DR Congo floods kill 29 in Kinshasa amid unexpected dry season rains
Significant material damage was recorded in the regions with many families displaced as a result.
Twenty-nine people were killed by floods and landslides in Kinshasa, DR Congo, over the weekend, amid unexpected rains during the country's dry season.
The country's Interior Ministry, in a statement on X on Monday, stated that the deaths were recorded in eight municipalities, with Ngaliema municipality recording the largest number of victims.
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The Ministry added that significant material damage was recorded in the regions with many families displaced as a result.
According to the statement, Interior Minister Shabani Lukoo has since led an emergency meeting to organise the national response to the flooding. While expressing sympathy to the grieving families, the DR Congo government committed to financing the burial arrangements for the 29 individuals who lost their lives
The rains have been linked to unusual weather patterns caused by shifting wind systems, according to the country's meteorological agency.
The National Agency for Meteorology and Remote Sensing by Satellite (Metelsat) attributed the ongoing rains, despite the dry season, to northwest winds blowing in from the Gulf of Guinea.
"The northwest wind, coming from the Gulf of Guinea, is bringing masses of cumuliform clouds, causing thunderstorms and rain over the Congolese capital, influencing local conditions," said Metelsat in a statement on X on Saturday.
Experts say the unusually heavy rains battering Kinshasa are being intensified by climate change, but the devastation they cause is largely due to poor urban planning and weak infrastructure.
Kinshasa, which sits on the banks of the Congo River, is also experiencing rapid population growth, now nearing 18 million people according to Macrotrends. Much of this growth is unplanned, forcing many to settle in flood-prone areas or live in poorly built homes without access to proper drainage systems.
This vulnerability has been laid bare in recent months. In April, flash floods killed more than 30 people in Kinshasa alone, and in May, over 100 people died in South Kivu following torrential rains.
Experts warn that without urgent investment in resilient infrastructure, better housing, and climate adaptation measures, Kinshasa will continue to face increasingly deadly floods in the years ahead.
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