At least 34 people died and more than 38,000 were affected by flooding in Ghana’s capital Accra and surrounding districts on 29 June, according to the country’s interior minister. The minister told reporters that 7,761 households were displaced and economic life disrupted across 25 communities in 18 municipal assemblies, with the Ga East district recording the highest number of casualties and missing persons.

In neighbouring Nigeria, days of torrential rainfall inundated homes and roads across at least eight states—including Lagos, Ondo and Bayelsa—prompting emergency management officials to warn that conditions could deteriorate. Nigeria’s Hydrological Services Agency said its early forecasts had not been heeded, and that the heaviest rains were expected between August and September. Officials in Lagos noted that some urban areas lie below sea level, making them particularly susceptible to a collision of flash, riverine and coastal flooding.

Medical authorities across the region linked the seasonal weather to rising health risks for children. In Ghana, the president of the country’s paediatric society urged parents to protect infants against respiratory and diarrhoeal infections, as well as flood-related hazards. Moroccan paediatricians separately warned that extreme summer heat posed acute dangers for infants, whose bodies regulate temperature less efficiently than adults, raising the risk of heatstroke and dehydration.

Further east, Dubai Police issued a statement reminding families travelling abroad during the summer holidays that child supervision is a legal requirement in many countries. Authorities cautioned that practices considered minor—leaving children unattended in hotel rooms or failing to supervise them in public—could trigger legal proceedings under local child-protection statutes, and urged parents to keep emergency consular contacts readily available.

Rescue and relief operations continued in Ghana as flood warnings remained in effect across West African coastal zones. Authorities in both Ghana and Nigeria faced renewed calls from medical associations and environmental groups to enforce land-use regulations, clear blocked drainage channels, and invest in forecasting and emergency preparedness ahead of the peak rainy weeks.