Flooding in Nigeria that submerged a town in a crucial agricultural region has displaced thousands of people, damaged farmland and claimed nearly 200 lives, the nation’s emergency agency said Tuesday.

With close to 200 confirmed fatalities, authorities in Nigeria's north-central Niger State are still searching for more than 1,000 people believed to have been swept away by devastating floods triggered by heavy rains over the past week.

The death toll after deadly floods hit the Nigerian town of Mokwa on Thursday has risen to more than 200, officials say. There are still 500 people missing in the town in north-central Niger State, as a search mission continues.