WHO sounds alarm as rising Congo River reaches near-record levels

BRAZZAVILLE, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- Nine out of 12 departments in the Republic of Congo are grappling with severe flooding as the Congo River reaches near-record levels, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Thursday, warning that heavy rains have impacted over 336,000 people in the country.

Thirty-four health zones and more than 2,200 hectares of cultivated land were impacted by the floods, said the WHO Regional Office for Africa based in Brazzaville, the Congolese capital, noting that it had allocated 100,000 U.S. dollars for the deployment of first responders.