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Seychelles was under a state of emergency early Thursday after flooding caused by several centimeters of rain and an explosion occurred in the northern region of Mahé, the country’s main island. Three people died in the flooding, while more than 100 people were injured in the blast at an explosives warehouse that destroyed buildings and downed trees in Providence’s industrial area, the Associated Press reported.
The state of emergency was declared “due to the double disaster that has struck the country in the last 24 hours; Heavy rain and explosion at the quarry company,” said the Seychelles Ministry of Finance said on Xformerly Twitter, in a message announcing the lifting of the state of emergency on Thursday evening.
According to the AP, the flooding was concentrated in the northern part of Mahé. The flood trapped people in houses, washed away parts of roads and caused landslides. Weather model simulations had shown 4 inches or more of rain could fall in the region Wednesday through Thursday.
A video update from the Seychelles Meteorological Authority, the country’s weather service, showed rainfall amounts of 114 millimeters (4.5 inches) in La Misere, 100 millimeters (4 inches) in Fairview, 85 millimeters (3.3 inches) in Le Niol and 83 millimeters (3.3 inches) in Beau Vallon.
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The explosion in Providence occurred around 2 a.m. Thursday, sending 125 people to medical centers with mostly minor injuries and leaving a large crater, the AP said. Providence is located on the northeast coast of the island, approximately four miles southeast of Victoria, the capital of Seychelles. However, the BBC reported damage at Seychelles International Airport, about 2½ miles southeast of Providence authorities said The airport and inter-island ferries remained operational.
Mahé is the largest and most populous island in the Seychelles, an archipelago of more than 100 islands in the Indian Ocean off the east coast of Africa. Mahé, a popular tourist destination, is approximately four miles wide and 16 miles long.
The Seychelles Meteorological Agency’s latest forecast for Mahé on Thursday called for “moderate to heavy showers with a risk of thunderstorms.”
East Africa has experienced further episodes of deadly flooding in recent days and weeks. At least 47 people were reported dead and 85 others injured on Monday following floods and landslides in Tanzania, while the death toll in Kenya from recent floods rose to at least 76 people in late November.
Heavy rains and floods have also occurred in Ethiopia, Somalia and South Sudan since October, killing hundreds of people and displacing millions. Scientists say human-caused climate change, a persistently strong El Niño and a cyclical weather pattern in the Indian Ocean have intensified recent rains. An analysis by climate scientists published on Thursday found that recent rains in East Africa were one of the most “intense” episodes in the last 40 years.