• by Servaas van den Bosch (windhoek)
• Wednesday, March 16, 2011
• Inter Press Service

Thousands of people and livestock in the Caprivi Strip have had to be evacuated during as annual floodwaters rise in the Zambezi. However, loss of life has been kept to a minimum as informal warning systems prove to be effective.

The flooding has affected villages and schools in the rural area. In recent weeks close to 4,000 people have been evacuated to 17 camps situated on higher ground in the Caprivi Region, Namibia’s poorest area.

The narrow strip of land, barely 30 kilometres wide borders Angola, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It is traversed by the Zambezi and some of its major tributaries, the Kwando, the Chobe and the Linyanti.

'The Zambezi is stable at around 6.37 metres and the water levels don’t seem to be worsening for the moment,' said chief hydrologist Guido van Langenhove of the Department of Water Affairs in Windhoek.

However, in the latest flood bulletin, the hydrologist also noted there were 'very good rains in the very upper parts of the catchment in Angola' which could mean even higher water levels in several weeks' time.

Large areas in the Linyanti and Kabbe constituencies, near the Botswana and Zambian borders are already under water. 'The rainy season is supposed to last several more weeks, so it is possible that it rains again upstream in Zambia. In that case we can expect more flooding, but at least we will know it weeks in advance,' said Van Langenhove.

Early warning system helping communities

Local authorities have devised an early warning system that is one of the best functioning in the region. The system relies on informal communication of water levels from country to country by email or telephone.

'We have definitely seen an improvement in the speed with which disaster management teams respond. Earlier we would have to mobilise helicopters to airlift people and there was no provision for camps,' says Van Langenhove.

'Because we now can give a warning three weeks before the flood arrives, evacuation points are being prepared on time. Authorities know which people and how many people need to be evacuated, there are enough tents and there is sufficient supply of clean drinking water. Schools get sufficient warning to alert their learners.'

Japhet Iitenge Director of Disaster Risk Management in the Office of the Prime Minister, says, 'Together with the forecast of the meteorological office, the warning system that the hydrologists have put in place really enables us to prepare for the floods.

'Our preparation started already at the end of last season, with drawing up and revising disaster plans. When we receive the warning that the floods are coming we start implementing them. With the system we are definitely better prepared than before and are able to move people to other villages and temporary camps where they still till the floods subside.'

Casualties limited

Raphael Mbala, chair of the Caprivi Regional Council, said that in recent days the water has again risen with several centimeters, but casualties so far seem minimal. 'I only know of one fisherman who drowned in one of the villages, otherwise there have been no fatalities.'

As the councilor from Kabbe, the most affected constituency, he has overseen the evacuation of an important part of the Region. 'All the people and livestock have been evacuated to higher ground. Some villagers will relocate permanently, but most will return to their homes.'

They could face a long wait. 'Sometimes the people can only return to turn homesteads in August,' said Mbala

Ensuring the safety of learners

He says that the evacuation procedures have been helped by the early warning systems. 'This year for instance we have been successful in moving schools. With the actual school premises being flooded, we have relocated learners and classes continue on higher ground. In my constituency we have relocated four out of six school so far.'

For Kabbe alone this means that 720 learners had to be relocated.

The residents of the area are becoming more and more accustomed to the annual floods that disrupt normal life for months.

'When I was growing up, floods like this were something that occurred every ten or twenty years,' says Mbala who is now 63. 'Situations like the one we have now happened in 1961, 1968, 1978 and then in 2003. Since 2003, however, we have had large floods every single year.'

Mbala blames the increasing frequency of heavy floods on climatic changes affecting the basin. 'The situation is too much for the government to cope with. We get help from U.N. agencies and the Red Cross, but we still need more blankets, mosquito nets and tents. There is water enough, since we are now basically surrounded by it, but we need more purification tablets to make it safe for consumption.'

© Inter Press Service (2011) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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