From 25 July to 3rd August 2022, heavy rains caused flooding in some parts of Mauritania, including Hodh El Gharbi, Assaba and Tagant in southern and central Mauritania. Among other things, the floods caused extensive material damage to 4,351 households, or 28,926 people. They also caused the deaths of 14 people, most of them are children. Across all the 7 affected regions, 3,817 houses were destroyed and a loss of 766 head of cattle was recorded because of the severe rains.

Significant damage and loss of houses, food stock and household items were recorded across affected regions, predominantly in the following locations: N’beika, Siyassah and Ashram in Tagant region, Guerou and Boumdid in the Assaba region, and the municipality of Agjart and Sava in the Hodh El Gharbi region.

Several roads in the country were damaged, paralyzing the free movement of people and goods for 3-4 days before field teams deployed by the Ministry of Transport and Equipment managed to restore traffic. At the time of writing this EPoA, traffic was restored in most areas, with alternate routes identified in areas that remained flooded.

The heavy rains also caused interruptions to communication and electricity services, that were cut off in most areas for three or four days, most notably in the department of Moudjéria and Guerou. The Technical Commission responsible for monitoring the work of the Ministry Emergency Management Committee recorded large scale damages to infrastructure, including roads, bridges, dams, and protective dikes, as well as roads and commercial complexes. The infrastructure in impacted areas were completely flooded.

Most of the businesses in the cities were flooded, as was the arable land which had been sown. Food stocks and hut breeding were also impacted, resulting in the loss of ruminant livestock. Hygiene conditions, access to potable water sources has become difficult for many families in the affected areas. The emergency level is stated high by the Government which has launched an appeal to all humanitarian actors in the regions on 25 July. By the time of this planning, there is still a high need of assistance among the affected population and rains continue in most of the regions. Details of amount of rain received on 18 August were shared by Le Réseau Administratif de Commandement (RAC) to the Mauritanian information agency with more than 900mm over the country in 24 hours.