Portraits of communities devastated by the worst recorded floods in Nigeria.
Communities hit by Nigeria's worst recorded floods are at the centre of an exhibition by photographer Gideon Mendel. He took portraits of people standing amid their drowned homes in the southern state of Bayelsa:
I was repeatedly moved by the welcome I received in this community - from people dealing with such difficult circumstances. So many people wanted to have their experience documented that I often had a queue of people waiting to be photographed.Shiphrah Timbiri Otuoke breaks into spontaneous song as she stands in front of her flooded home
"It brought so much destruction and hunger to our community. I am a sociology student and the flood was a disaster to me academically. I lost so many learning hours. My textbooks, handouts and notebooks are all damaged. I don't know where to start from now because I support myself with farming as a student."The residents living on the lower level of Dorcas Apartments, accommodation for university students, have been all flooded.
"The floodwater destroyed our store of food supplies from our family farm so we have nothing to feed on. The foundation of our house is also damaged. We do not know if it still will be standing after having so much water inside. More than 600 people lost their lives and another 1.5 million people were forced to flee their homes. It extensively damaged houses, farms and basic infrastructure and decimated livelihoods across the country.
"I remember the flood when 2012 when I was a boy, but that was not nearly as bad as this. Nobody in our community expected it to be this huge," said Mr Otuaba.For farmer Orubo Oro Tombia , from neighbouring Yenagoa municipality, the worst aspect has been the loss of cassava stems: "It is a disaster to me in so many ways and the cause of so much stress.
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