Flooding caused by heavy rains lashing Niger since June has killed 53 people and impacted 18,000, as the West African country grapples with the effects of climate change, a UN agency announced on Wednesday, AFP reports.

An earlier interior ministry toll published on June 20 recorded 21 deaths and nearly 6,000 people affected nationwide.

Floodwaters also destroyed 1,636 homes, 29 classrooms, and killed 10,930 livestock, the agency said, citing the Niger Ministry of Humanitarian Action and Disaster Management.

OCHA warned that more than 247,000 people could be affected by the floods before the end of the rainy season, which typically concludes in late September.

It added that UNICEF, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the International Organization for Migration, and the Red Cross will support the Nigerien government by mobilising food stocks, emergency shelter and hygiene kits in the areas most severely impacted by the worsening weather conditions.

According to Nigerien authorities, nearly every region of the country has been affected, with the south-central region of Maradi particularly hard-hit.

But the capital Niamey and its two million inhabitants, often struck by deadly floods, have been spared thus far.

The rainy season in Niger, spanning from June to September, regularly results in fatalities, even in the country's typically dry desert regions.

bd-pratidin/GR