Nigeria: Floods kill 1, make 575 homeless in Kano

[August 13, 2013]  KANO, Nigeria (AP) -- Officials say floods from heavy rains killed one person and left 575 people homeless in northern Nigeria's biggest city of Kano.

Regional emergency disaster manager Musa Ilallah says rescuers still are searching Tuesday for four people carried away by raging waters that "completely destroyed" 471 homes.

Torrents of rain that started Friday caused weekend flooding. Drains and deep culverts chronically filled with uncollected garbage flooded. Ilallah appealed to residents to stop dumping refuse in waterways and drains.

The flooding also unearthed some 20 corpses at the city's main cemetery.

Torrential rains and floods have become more common in northern Nigeria bordering the Sahara Desert with officials blaming climate change.

[Associated Press]

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