Heavy rain started in June, but it was last week that the waters of the Niger River basin reached critical levels.

The country's minister for humanitarian action says the river has been rising nearly 4in (10cm) each day.

Officials now say at least 5,000 houses have been destroyed in the flooding, leaving more than 65,000 people stranded.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that there is a risk of an outbreak of cholera.

Extreme weather is a common phenomenon in Niger.

Last year, a drought followed by severe flooding led to food shortages - a crisis that has been exacerbated by a decade-long insurgency by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram, which is active in the region.