Devastating Floods in Togo

Last Sunday, I met my coworkers at the US Embassy in Lome to take a vehicle to Kara.  On the way up country, we were slowed several times by local villagers watching as flood waters began to rise above the bridges of the National Road.  Within hours (less than two) we were notified that two of the bridges we had crossed collapsed.  By Tuesday, reports were flooding the country that at least 9 bridges on the National Road no longer existed.  These recent events have been devastating to the local economy because the National Road (Rue Nationale) is the primary connection between Togo's free port and Burkina Faso, a land locked country.  Now that the truck cannot easily make the trip through the country on the only decent road, gas prices are soaring -  and some gas stations in the north are simple out of gas.  The price for a bowl of corn has jumped from 300 fcfa to 1500 fcfa (less than a dollar to almost 4 dollars) - many towns, including my beloved Notse are water locked and are running out of essential supplies, food and drink.  On the way back we had to drive several hours out of the way just to get back to the capitol city - and there were whispers that we may have had to cross into the country of Benin just to get back.  I have only heard of a few casualties, but local ex-pats are telling me that houses are flooded to the roof or just plain crumbling in villages throughout Togo.