ENVIRONMENT-NAMIBIA: Villagers Grapple With the Worst Floods in 21 Years

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Rosemary Nalisa

CAPRIVI STRIP, Namibia, May 20 2003 (IPS) - Villagers in Namibia’s Caprivi Strip are grappling with the worst floods in 21 years, after the Zambezi River burst its banks, submerging 30 villages, killing two people and threatening 25,000 others.

The Caprivi Strip, with a population of 90,000, is located some 1,400 kilometres northeast of Windhoek, the capital of Namibia.

Last week President Sam Nujoma visited the region to assess damages caused by the floods.

Immediately, following his return, the government appealed for donor support, while donating R5 million (695,000 U.S. dollars) for the people displaced by the floods.

The World Health Organisation (WHO), too, is distributing mosquito nets to the displaced.

"At the beginning of May, only about 20 villages were flooded and within the past few days the number has reached 30. We believe that more villages are now submerged or surrounded as the flood water is moving very fast, thus making us to lose track with the numbers," says Patrick Simataa, a senior Red Cross official in Windhoek.

The Red Cross has begun distributing blankets to those who relocated to accessible areas. But some residents, says Simataa, are reluctant to vacate their villages. Most of them say they would only vacate if the water reached their villages, he says.

Animals, too, are finding it hard to graze. This is because livestock share small areas of higher ground with human beings, says Simataa. The Red Cross has suggested that all possible means be used to ensure that the flooded area is evacuated as soon as possible to prevent further loss of lives and livestock.

Another major problem facing residents is the lack of accessibility to schools and clinics, as most roads to these facilities have been flooded. Some classrooms and boarding quarters for students and teachers have also been flooded.

Caprivi Governor Bernard Sibalatani has appealed to the central government in Windhoek to operate mobile clinics on boats to ensure that the sick are given medical care.

Water Department officials say the level of the Zambezi River currently stands at more than six metres and it is expected to continue rising. The Chief Water Technician in the Caprivi Strip, Vincent Simana says the Zambezi River level has reached its highest peak in more than 20 years, while most of its tributaries are full and overflowing.

"This crisis would have been avoided if only the people heeded to the call to relocate to higher grounds as early as March. We sent early warnings to people living in the flood plains, but they ignored them, and as a result most people are now trapped in areas where they cannot evacuate as they are surrounded by heavy flood water," he says.

Health officials in the region also fear an outbreak of malaria, which is common in north-eastern Namibia, especially during the rainy season between October and April and flooding between February and May.

The floods have come at a time when Namibia is grappling with drought that has affected more than 345,000 people. The floods have prevented the distribution of relief food to beneficiaries. And crops that survived the drought have been destroyed by the floods, leaving residents without food.

Due to its swampy nature, the Caprivi Strip is prone to heavy floods, especially in the eastern and south-western parts.

Since time immemorial residents of the flood plains, known as the Masubia Tribe, who are mainly fishermen, have become accustomed to flooding and relocate to higher ground when the area is flooded and return home when the floods have receded.

The most memorable floods that caused devastation occurred in 1958 and 1978. In 1958 some Namibians were forced to relocate to Chobe District in Botswana where they were accommodated temporarily until the floods subsided.

It is a common phenomenon when it is flooding in Caprivi for clinics and schools to get their supplies by boats or helicopters, while wages for teachers and nurses are also delivered in the same way. But this year’s floods has left the Namibian authorities scratching their heads for immediate solutions.