Seychelles President Wavel Ramkalawan, on Thursday, declared a state of emergency, ordering all citizens except essential workers to stay at home, after a blast at a store and flooding due to heavy rainfall.
“Following an explosion at the CCCL explosives store that has caused massive damage… and major destruction caused by flooding due to heavy rains, the President has declared a State of Emergency for today the 7th December,” presidency said in a statement.
“All schools will be closed. Only workers in the essential services and persons travelling will be allowed free movement. This is to allow the emergency services to carry out essential work,” the statement added.
The explosion occurred in the Providence industrial area in Mahe, the largest island in the Indian Ocean archipelago, and caused huge damage there and to surrounding areas, the presidency said, without elaborating further.
Comprising 115 islands, the Seychelles stands as Africa’s wealthiest nation by per capita gross domestic product, per 2021 World Bank statistics, driven primarily by tourism and fishing. Nonetheless, a significant portion of the country’s 98,000 inhabitants, approximately 40%, grapple with poverty due to the high cost of living.
Apart from Seychelles, Other part of Africa, particularly Kenya, Somalia, and Ethiopia, have witnessed unusually heavy rainfall since October, attributed to the El Nino weather pattern.
The climatic situation has been exacerbated by the combined effects of El Nino and the Indian Ocean Dipole, influencing sea surface temperatures across the ocean’s western and eastern areas, as reported by the UN.
El Nino typically correlates with global temperature rises, leading to drought in some regions and intensified rainfall elsewhere.