Located in the north of the city of Abidjan, the municipality of Abobo extends over a plateau site broken down on sides by basins called natural depressions. These are natural rainwater collection areas, which are therefore difficult to urbanize. There are about 30 of them in the current urban area. The sizes of these depressions vary between 100 and 130 meters for a depth of up to five meters as shown in Figure 2.

This municipality of Abobo has 18 storm basins and 10 ravines as shown in Table 1. Among these storm basins, 8 critical basins are likely to cause enormous damage. In particular, the Houphouët-Boigny, Agnissankoi, Red plate, Cayman Lake, Pays-Bas, Glacier, Monastery, Bougounisso.

The conditions of occurrence of the hazards of Attécoubé are identical to

Source: Our surveys 2014 and 2015.

those of the previous zone. However, site conditions are different from land use and development conditions.

The site of Attécoubé is a plateau relief cut in half by the bay of Banco (river). This relief has different characteristics from one cardinal point to another. To the east, it is separated from the interfluve of Adjamé-centre by a valley whose encashment is 35 meters; this gives it the appearance of a large mound elongated in the north-south direction. This relief is itself composed of two interfluves divided by a very deep valley of the order 50 - 60 meters. It starts from the original site of Attécoubé by passing by the Marian Shrine, the Fairmont city to the bay of the banco by a steep. To the west of the bay of the banco, we note the presence of valleys with steep slopes with relatively wide bottoms. The ramifications of the eastern ledges of the banco plateau have reduced the altitudes of the summits from 40 - 50 to 50 - 60 meters.

To the south a flat surface of 30 - 40 meters more or less favorable to urbanization. Table 2 and Figure 3 provide an overview of the risk areas and terrain of Attécoubé.

From the above, we consider that Abobo and Attécoubé are two municipalities established on potentially dangerous sites where risks of landslides and floods in case of rain are proven. Even worse, in these urbanized areas, we have noticed a rough servicing of land intended for the construction of habitats, a regular lack of sanitation and irregular urban development (Adomon and al, 2018). Such failures expose any urbanized area and said environment to serious consequences in the event of natural disasters.

They concern the loss of life, injuries, material damage, destruction of homes and economic activities as shown in Tables 3-6.

From the analysis of Tables 3-6, it appears that the floods had harmful and catastrophic effects on the environment and the living environment of the populations in the municipality of Abobo. Worse still, losses of human lives and property damage were reported in the said municipality following the landslides. Table 7 and Table 8 give an overview of these losses in human lives and property damage.

The municipality of Attécoubé is a high risk area due to the dangerous landslides that occurred there. With the support of local authorities, we have identified the consequences of this natural disaster as shown in Tables 9-11.

As for landslides, their effects are more noticeable at Attécoubé with the corollary of significant material damage as shown in Tables 12-14.

In total, it should be remembered that the rains of 2014 caused more deaths in the commune of Attécoubé than Abobo. We counted 07 in Abobo and 16 in Attécoubé. These torrential rains made more than 2000 displaced. On economic activities, the rain caused the destruction of products from the various stores located at the edge of the sewerage and drainage networks. The destruction of goods and materials from the shops during and after the floods. Finally, it resulted in the destruction of economic infrastructure in both municipalities.

Source: Our surveys 2014 and 2015.

Source: Our surveys 2014 and 2015.

Source: Our surveys 2014 and 2015.

Source: Our surveys 2014 and 2015.

Source: Our surveys 2014 and 2015.

Source: Our surveys 2014and 2015.

Source: City Hall Technical Service 2014-2015.

Source: City hall technical service 2014 and 2015.

Source: Technical service of the town hall 2014 and our investigations 2015.

Source: Technical service of the town hall 2014 and our investigations 2015.

Source: Technical service of the town hall 2014 and our investigations 2015.

Source: Technical service of the town hall 2014 and our investigations 2015.

Faced with such a reality of natural disasters, relief actions and financial support have been carried out.

Who are the perpetrators and beneficiaries? How much assistance can we assess for victims?

People in disaster areas did not sit idly by during and after the accidents. They expressed a desire to help each other. Also, the victims received from their hands from other populations; food and material of primary necessity. These include mattresses, bed sheets, loincloths, rice, mats, shoes, etc. There was no deduction in cost, because it was voluntary acts between neighbourhood brothers.

In Abobo, for example, two NGOs, Lion’s Club and the Red Cross, have relieved more than 500 households by bringing them food and non-food items. These donations are estimated at tens of millions. However, they could not be valued in cash.

In Attécoubé,

Given the scale of the crisis, the State has instituted a management of the people affected to the tune of 533,866.77 USD. This included accommodation (maximum duration of 03 months) for 66 people (including 15 for the municipality of Attécoubé alone). Thus, it is made available to them Assistance Kits which included assistance for the resettlement of the victims, according to the municipality of Attécoubé.

• Many gifts make a living, including rice bags, boxes of powdered milk, cartons of oil, boxes of tomatoes and pasta. All these donations are estimated at 12,979.13 USD.

• Assistance to bereaved families in the amount of 1854.16 USD each. For the 23 we count 42,636.24 USD.

In addition, the State has also committed to pre-finance the new rents of the victims to the tune of 03 months of guarantee and 02 months of rent paid in advance due to 370,841 USD per month.

In order to avoid similar disasters in the rainy season, a programme to assist people to evacuate dangerous sites was drawn up by an interdepartmental committee. However, the evacuation of exposed populations is difficult to implement due to lack of financial means. The different aspects of this program are:

• Demolition of houses, threatened houses and relocation of residents at an estimated cost of 56,264.10 USD;

• Transportat costs, personal effects = 0.05560 USD per household for moving expenses;

• For the 1947 households of the said municipality, the amount is 108,301.55 USD;

• Resettlement assistance: 03 months of security 02 months of rent or 185.40 USD for 1947 = 360,824.12 USD;

• Providing land parcels to resident landowners, with the State having a land reserve of 11 hectares on the Biabou side.

In Abobo

The State has distributed dignity kits (recasement aid or allowance) to the affected populations to meet immediate needs. 278.10 USD were distributed to 1.003 households or an amount of 278,933.32 USD.

The State has also made donations of live and not food to the 10 neighborhoods most affected by the hazards (Nest of doves; Houphouët Boigny; Glacier; Monastery, Red plate, Netherlands, cayman lake, Nanti, Banco, Anonkoua village). Table 15 is an inventory of donations made.

In Attécoubé

• Disaster assistance: 278.09 USD to 606 people, for a total of 166,878.62 USD.

• Donations of food and non-food items for which the cost is not estimated.

In Abobo

The municipality first identified public schools to provide shelter to victims. Stadiums, hospitals, etc., have been requisitioned for this purpose. In addition, these victims have benefited from the food and non-drinking estimated at millions.

Source: Our surveys 2014 and 2015.