Rainfall Variability and Flood in Epéna (Congo-Brazzaville)

The urban community of Epéna, in northern Congo, has been at risk of recurrent flooding for several decades. To this end, the present study aims to analyze rainfall variability from 1980 to 2022 in Epéna and its impact on the rate of flooding observed between October and November 2022. To carry out this study, we used data from the ERA5 reanalyses, consisting essentially of daily rainfall data over the period from January 01, 1980 to December 31, 2022. To this we added sequences of field images. These data were processed according to a methodological protocol based on descriptive statistics and the Pettitt test. The results obtained show that precipitation shows slight fluctuations at monthly and annual, but is highly irregular at seasonal level. The Pettitt test shows a period of change in the distribution of annual precipitation at Epéna between 1908 and 2022. These results also showed that the daily rainfall totals recorded between October and November 2022 at Epéna) were responsible for the floods observed on October 20, 2022 and on November 02 and 29, 2022 Levels.