More than 825,000 Liberians face a significant flood risk during July 2025, according to a recent forecast producedby the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the African Centre of Meteorological Applications for Development (ACMAD).
This outlook, which also impacts populations in Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and Cameroon, warns of potential flooding, landslides, agricultural damage, infrastructure failure, displacement, and public health crises.
The forecast anticipates heavy rainfall (100-150mm over five days) particularly in western Liberia, with moderate rainfall (50-100mm over five days) expected across central to eastern Liberia. Such conditions, driven by deep convective clouds, can lead to both flash floods and riverine flooding.
Liberia, with its 350-mile coastline, is inherently vulnerable to flooding during its extended rainy season, which runs from April to October each year. This vulnerability is exacerbated by climate change, which disrupts weather patterns, leading to more intense rainfall, widespread flooding, landslides, and subsequent population displacement.
Communities residing in coastal and slum areas like West Point, Doe Communities, Slipway, Vai Town, and Clara Town are particularly susceptible to inundation. Experts warn that these environmental shifts have severe consequences for society, ecosystems, and various economic sectors.
Already the country grapples with existing vulnerabilities: an estimated 2.2 million people are exposed to floods, 320,000 to coastal erosion, and 2.1 million to windstorms. Experts predict that the impacts of climate change will only intensify these risks.
The devastating effects of inadequate preparedness were evident in 2024 when more than 48,000 people were displaced by widespread flooding. Homes and critical infrastructure, including schools and hospitals, were severely affected. Ansu Dulleh, Executive Director of the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA), appealed to both local and international partners for support, noting that women, children, and the elderly constituted the majority of those affected.
Dulleh lamented the country’s limited capacity to respond to such large-scale disasters, stating, “The scale of the flooding is unlike any we have ever witnessed. Our systems are overwhelmed and cannot address all the competing needs associated with this crisis.”
A debate among senators to relocate the capital of Monrovia was triggered last year by flash floods from torrential rains between late June and early July 2024, leaving thousands in urgent need.
Beyond immediate displacement, increased rainfall, flooding, and rising temperatures are expected to worsen public health outcomes. Nearly half of Liberia’s population practices open defecation, and experts predict that increased precipitation will heighten sanitation vulnerabilities, thereby increasing the prevalence of water and vector-borne diseases such as cholera and diarrheal illnesses.
Liberia, like many African nations, lacks active and functioning early warning systems crucial for preparing communities and responding to flood and climate hazards. An investigation by the Daily Observer last year revealed the failure of a US$6.93 million project, funded by the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) and UNDP, which aimed to establish Liberia’s first post-conflict early warning website and a database to provide crucial weather information to citizens, including farmers.
Almost all weather, hydrological, and agromet equipment procured and installed through this project for monitoring, forecasting, archiving, analyzing, and disseminating climate data are currently non-functional.
Despite these setbacks, Liberia is guided by its National Disaster Management Policy (2012), which aims to reduce natural and manmade disaster risks through coordinated inter-agency efforts. While coastal areas are often highlighted, almost all of Liberia’s fifteen counties have experienced flooding, including inland counties such as Nimba, Bong, and Lofa.
A new project, funded by the Green Climate Fund, has recently been launched with the goal of improving the country’s early warning capabilities.
