Heavy rains that have struck Niger since June have claimed 19 lives and inflicted economic harm on tens of thousands more, the government said on Friday, while the impoverished Sahel state faces a "major threat" of invasion by locusts.

Of the 19 believed killed by the rains, 10 died by drowning and nine when homes collapsed, Niger's interior ministry said in a statement.

Disaster management offices tallied some 6,215 households -- or 53,000 people -- that have suffered financial damage from the rainfall, the ministry said.

A previous official count last month put the number of dead at nine and the number of people economically impacted at 20,000.

Niger's southwestern regions of Maradi, Tahoua, Tillaberi and Dosso have been worst affected.

Tahoua governor Moussa Abdourahamane said some villages were practically razed by floodwaters as waterways including the Niger river broke their banks.

The national meteorological office predicts further "significant storms in the days ahead" and Niger's civil protection agency urged the public to be vigilant.

Meanwhile Agriculture Minister Albade Abouba warned on public television that "a major threat from desert locusts is looming on the horizon."

One agricultural expert told AFP that the insects were likely to arrive "in September".

Locusts have ravaged agricultural areas from Ethiopia to Nepal this year, causing painful food shortages in some countries.

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