Disasters in Guinea

Guinea has a formal but fragmented disaster-management system. The main national bodies include ANGUCH, the Agence Nationale de Gestion des Urgences et Catastrophes Humanitaires, which coordinates preparedness and response to humanitarian emergencies, damage and needs assessments, emergency assistance, and support for affected people and internally displaced people. The Direction Générale de la Protection Civile, or DGPC, operates under the Ministry of Security and Civil Protection and covers prevention, forecasting, intervention, rescue, and assistance. CENAGCUE, the Centre National de Gestion des Catastrophes et des Urgences Environnementales, works under the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development on disaster risk reduction, environmental emergencies, information, and prevention. ANM, the Agence Nationale de la Météorologie, provides official weather forecasts and warnings. Prefectures, municipalities, local authorities, the Guinean Red Cross, United Nations agencies, and nongovernmental organizations add local or specialist support. The legal and planning framework includes the 2013 law establishing the special status of civil protection, the June 2022 decree creating ANGUCH and replacing SENAH, the May 2023 order establishing the national disaster-management committee, the 2016 national disaster risk reduction programme, the 2018 national contingency plan, and the National Disaster Risk Reduction Strategy for 2024 to 2030. More than 23 actors are identified in the strategy, including seven public actors. The documents also report overlapping responsibilities, weak local coordination, limited integration of disaster-risk reduction into municipal and development planning, and restricted investment and public-private financing. Local legal and enforcement details are not consistently documented nationwide. Flooding is one of Guinea's most significant risks. Historical assessments classify five prefectures, or 14.71 percent of the country's prefectures, as very frequently affected, 20 prefectures, or 58.82 percent, as frequently affected, and nine prefectures, or 26.47 percent, as rarely affected. Reported hotspots include Conakry, Boké, Boffa, Gaoual, Koundara, Kankan, Kouroussa, Kérouané, Faranah, Dabola, Kissidougou, Labé, Dinguiraye, Kindia, and Siguiri. Heavy rainfall, rising rivers and smaller waterways, coastal water, mangroves, low-lying areas, blocked drains and culverts, and unsafe construction increase the risk. Between 2000 and 2017, 82 percent of recorded floods were fluvial. Seasonal exposure is linked especially to the Niger, Makona, Fatala, Tinguilinta, Koliba or Corubal, and Bafing or Senegal river systems. In 2024, floods affected 133,688 people in 20,078 households across 12 prefectures and Conakry and caused four deaths. By 23 August 2025, reported floods had affected more than 35,131 people in 13 of 38 prefectures, caused 59 deaths and 14 missing people, and damaged nine schools and seven health facilities. These figures belong to their stated reporting periods and should not be treated as permanent annual averages. Landslides and rockfalls are concentrated in mountain, quarry, mining, and hillside areas, at the foot of slopes, and near waste dumps. Historical assessments classify five prefectures as very frequently affected, nine as frequently affected, 17 as rarely affected, and three as having no recorded report. Mining, uncontrolled drilling or other underground activity, and settlement in risk zones can weaken slopes. After heavy rain in Manéah in Coyah on 20 August 2025, the official interim count reported 15 deaths, 11 injuries, and several missing people. The DGPC, military engineering units, ANGUCH, and local authorities carried out search, rescue, evacuation, and recovery operations. Severe storms and strong winds expose almost the entire country. Thirty-two of 34 prefectures, or 94.12 percent, are classified as frequently exposed; one is classified as very frequently exposed and one has no reported classification. Tornadoes are reported less often and are commonly grouped with thunderstorms. ANM warnings in 2026 covered thunderstorms, heavy rain, strong winds, local flash floods, lightning, and falling debris or runoff. Practical protective advice includes avoiding known risk areas, limiting travel during thunderstorms, securing vulnerable objects, and checking current ANM updates. Fire risk includes bush fires as well as urban, household, industrial, agricultural, energy, and mining fires. Nine prefectures, or 26.47 percent, are classified as very frequently affected by bush fires and 25, or 75.53 percent, as frequently affected. Reported human causes include slash-and-burn cultivation, hunting, cigarettes, fires linked to grazing or gold mining, and dry conditions. Urban and industrial fires are also associated with electrical faults, candles, short circuits, poor maintenance, and missing emergency plans at companies and institutions. Drought and heat are reported frequently in 12 prefectures, rarely in nine, and without a recorded classification in 13. Haute Guinée has particular heat exposure. Water shortages can affect farming, livestock, fishing, and movement between communities. No general individual compensation or evacuation benefit has been evidenced for drought or heat. Earthquake risk is less frequent but can have severe consequences: an earthquake in Koumbia and Gaoual on 22 December 1983 reportedly killed more than 300 people and affected more than 10,000. Further seismic activity has been documented along the coast and in Fouta-Djalon. Coastal communities and infrastructure also face storm-driven sea surges, large-tide effects, and coastal erosion, including documented sites near Collège de Ratoma and in Taidy and Kamsar in Boffa. Technological and transport risks include chemical exposure in agriculture, mining, and fishing; road accidents; shipwrecks along the coast; and rail or aviation incidents. Poor roads, settlements along transport corridors, and the lack of industrial emergency plans can increase the consequences. Epidemics and general health issues belong primarily to health services, although disaster planning may still involve water, sanitation, hygiene, emergency shelter, and medical assistance. Crime and general nature-conservation issues are separate subjects unless they directly concern a disaster response. The warning system relies mainly on ANM forecasts and alerts, local authorities, media, and community channels. ANM publishes daily forecasts as well as short-, medium-, and long-range information, with public alerts showing severity, region, and phenomenon. Guinea is still developing a multi-hazard early-warning system. Community groups have been reported under changing names such as local action groups and watch committees. One report identified 80 local action groups in 80 rural communes with support from the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralization and the Guinean Red Cross, but current nationwide coverage has not been verified. A nationwide SMS or universal warning system has not been evidenced. Public preparedness plans call for understandable information, drills, awareness campaigns, and participation by local authorities, emergency services, and communities. Schools and hospitals should receive information about building risks, emergency plans, and protective behaviour. The strategy also calls for special warning arrangements for people with disabilities, including deaf people where sirens are used. During an emergency, ANGUCH coordinates nationally, while the DGPC provides operational rescue. Military engineering units may assist after major structural collapses. Prefectures, municipalities, the Guinean Red Cross, United Nations emergency groups, UNICEF, OCHA, FAO, and WFP may contribute depending on the event. No guaranteed nationwide response time has been published. ANGUCH publishes the contact number +224 611-003-100 and the email address info@anguch.gov.gn. The DGPC and Ministry of Security and Civil Protection publish 24-hour emergency contacts, and ANM lists +224 621344405. During an event, people should contact local authorities, ANGUCH, or civil protection where possible, follow current warnings, and leave an area facing immediate or officially announced danger. Public warnings and emergency coordination do not have a published user fee. Access to rescue and assistance still depends on the situation, location, available teams, communication, and resources. Relief is event-based rather than a general guaranteed payment. After the 2024 floods, reported assistance included schools used as accommodation, four reception centres, food such as rice, sugar, and oil, soap, chlorine, and mattresses. In 2025, 52 households affected around Manéah and Coyah were relocated and received food and basic items including mattresses, mosquito nets, blankets, clothing, buckets, and soap. A 2025 government fund of 8,377,270,000 GNF supported food, basic items, four regrouping sites, and cash transfers for households near Manéah. A 2024 United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund allocation of USD 2.5 million supported work in Kankan and Nzérékoré. Amounts, accommodation, relocation, registration, and payment timing depend on the event and assessed needs; no fixed national tariffs or general payment deadlines have been evidenced. The National Disaster Risk Reduction Strategy states that preventive forced evacuation may be used only when a serious and imminent risk exists. Affected people should receive information about the timing, arrangements, destination, and expected duration. Authorities should protect dignity, fundamental rights, property, and belongings, while local authorities identify risk zones and evacuation arrangements. The strategy states that refusal occurs at the person's own risk. Transport and accommodation arrangements are not documented as uniform across Guinea, so local instructions and the actual capacity of the response should be checked. Recovery is coordinated by ANGUCH and often depends on partners and event-specific financing. In 2025 and 2026, cooperation involving the Economic Community of West African States and ANGUCH supported reconstruction of a school and health post in Mboro and water infrastructure powered by solar energy. Guinea has no evidenced uniform national compensation scale or single application deadline for disaster recovery. Critical infrastructure exposed to disasters includes water and sanitation systems, housing, schools, health facilities, roads, markets, trade facilities, energy systems, and industry. National strategy priorities include risk mapping, maintenance and renovation, resilient and environmentally suitable infrastructure, drainage, and stronger building control. Existing equipment and infrastructure are described as insufficient, outdated, or poorly maintained. Practical risk varies across Guinea. It is especially high in Conakry and coastal lowlands, along river corridors, in parts of Kindia, Faranah, Kankan, and Nzérékoré, and in mining or hillside communities. Rainy-season conditions often increase the immediate relevance of flood, landslide, storm, and runoff warnings. A household, company, school, or institution should therefore identify its local hazards, monitor ANM and local authority information, keep essential documents and supplies accessible, know which nearby evacuation locations are being announced, and avoid relying on a single communication channel.