Severe flooding in Liberia has led a group of senators to propose relocating the capital city away from overcrowded and poorly managed Monrovia, a suggestion met with a mixture of enthusiasm and hesitancy in the West African country.

Flash floods triggered by torrential rains between the end of June and early July left some 48,000 Liberians in urgent need, the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) said.

The flood-prone capital was particularly badly hit, owing in part to overpopulation, a poor sewage system, and a lack of building regulation.

An estimated 100,000 people are “at risk of flooding, windstorms, and coastal erosion, with incidences of water-borne diseases also expected to rise.”

And the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework 2020-2024 for Liberia says that the country needs “more resilience and adaptive capacity to combat the effects of climate change.”

Meeting to discuss the persistent flooding problem, a senate joint committee in early July suggested establishing a new city to replace Monrovia.

Nigeria’s Abuja is one of a handful of planned capital cities on the African continent.

Tanzania’s capital Dodoma and Yamoussoukro in Côte d’Ivoire were also established as administrative capitals towards the end of the 20th century, with all three cities occupying geographically central positions in their respective countries.

Monrovia is home to 1.5 million people and lies on the Atlantic coast of Liberia, one of the poorest countries in the world.