As torrential rains across Central and West Africa have unleashed the most catastrophic floods in decades, residents of Maiduguri, the capital of the fragile Nigerian state of Borno — which has been at the center of an Islamic extremists' insurgency — said they have seen it all.

Catholic leaders across West and Central Africa are calling for assistance following unprecedented and deadly floods that have swept through the regions.

As torrential rains across Central and West Africa have unleashed the most catastrophic floods in decades, residents of Maiduguri, the capital of the fragile Nigerian state of Borno — which has been at the center of an Islamic extremists' insurgency — said they have seen it all.

Unprecendented flooding in Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger, Chad, Mali, Ghana and Liberia has triggered humanitarian crises. An estimated four million people — most of them children — are caught up in the devastation.

West Africa faces more heavy rains this week after flooding in a region that’s seen at least 2.3 million people displaced by rising waters in 2024 alone. Most Read from BloombergPipeline Fire Near Houston Forces Some Residents to EvacuateLondon Mayor Plans to Pedestrianize Busy Oxford StreetHousing’s Worst Crisis in Decades Reverberates Through 2024 RaceAn Artist Reimagines the Spaces of Childhood,