Namibia has launched an operation to rescue schoolchildren marooned by
floodwaters at a boarding school in the country’s northeastern Caprivi
Strip.
Dorkas Kapembe-Haiduwa, secretary-general of the Namibia Red Cross,
told IRIN: "Boats have been sent to the village, Muzee, but we don’t
know have an idea of the numbers [of schoolchildren stranded]."
Rapidly rising water levels in the Zambezi, Chobe, Kwando and Linyati
rivers meant more than 19,000 people have had to be evacuated from the
Caprivi Strip and relocated to eight camps.
Relief efforts have been hampered by a shortage of tents for the
displaced and about 6,000 people were without shelter, Kapembe-Haiduwa
said. "The tents that are being used are old and tattered and the rain
is pouring through them."
The Zambezi River, which rose to record levels, has begun to subside
and rains have eased in Caprivi's neighbouring Kavango region, where
2,000 people have been relocated to six camps.
The Namibian government has declared a state of emergency and released
US$10.9 million for disaster response efforts. It is distributing
tarpaulins, blankets and 140,000 water purification tablets.
The UN is expected to make a flash appeal in the next few days to help Namibia deal with the flooding.
Botswana
In neighbouring Botswana the authorities are taking precautionary
measures as rising waters in the Okavango Delta, an inland river system
which terminates in the arid Kalahari, threaten an outbreak of
waterborne diseases.
Water levels in the delta have risen to their highest levels since
1939, the District Commissioner for Ngamiland, Beneddette Malala told
local media.
No fatalities or injuries have been reported, but a surge in waterborne
diseases in the area has forced the deployment of health officials, and
swamped crop fields are likely to cause future food shortages.
An image of the flooded rivers in the western part of southern Africa
taken by NASA’s Terra satellite on 25 March, 2009 "A team of five
public health specialists has been mobilized from the Ministry of
Health. The team will provide technical assistance on waterborne
diseases that are likely to occur due the Okavango River floods," said
Botswana government spokesperson Jeff Ramsay.
Schooling has been disrupted, and students ordered to stay at home;
people working in the fishing industry, a major economic contributor in
the area, have been advised to halt their activities for the time
being.
Botswana’s National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) has dispatched
relief aid, including tarpaulins, shelter kits, water-purifying
tablets, blankets, bales of second hand clothing, mosquito nets,
kitchen sets, soap bars and jerrycans.
Government has advised people in affected areas to move to higher
ground. "There are some homesteads that are resisting [relocation],
while others want to do so when the situation gets severe," Malala
said.
Nathan Morule, who works in the capital, Gaborone, but was originally
from Shakawe, north of the Okavango Delta on the border with Namibia,
told IRIN: "I drove home [to Shakawe] on Sunday [22 March] evening to
pick up my family and move my belongings to Kasane [on the border with
Namibia’s Caprivi Strip].
"The situation there [Shakawe] is very dire. The government says the
floods will worsen. There have been floods before, but those who saw
them say it has never been like this. I saw it with my own eyes –
houses, offices, fields, roads, just everything is submerged in water.
Everyone just cannot understand what is happening," Morule said.
Zambia
Heavy rains in Zambia are stoking cholera in the country, according to
an update by the UN Disaster Management Team on 27 March. The provinces
most affected by flooding are Western, Eastern, Lusaka, Central and
parts of Northern.
"The cholera situation had marginally improved, but is on the upswing
again due to the continued rainy spell. In the Southern Province,
Siavonga district has reported new cases of cholera and there are also
reports from Eastern Province, in the rural areas," the update said.
The health ministry reported 6,624 cases from September 2008 to 26 March 2009, of which 140 were fatal.
Angola
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a
regional report released on 27 March that flooding in Angola had killed
in 21 people and affected 200,000 people in the provinces of Cunene,
Kuando Kubango, Moxico, Malange, Bie, Huambo and Lunda Sul.
In some instances, military air and boat rescue have been required to
evacuate the worst affected and isolated areas"The number is likely to
increase once assessment teams are able reach areas made inaccessible
by the floods. In some instances, military air and boat rescue have
been required to evacuate the worst affected and isolated areas," the
update said.
The government has set aside US$10 million for flood response measures
and is also providing six cargo planes to deliver emergency supplies.
UN agencies have already allocated US$ 600,000 of their own funding,
"However, given that the number and needs of affected is likely to
increase, UNICEF [the UN Children's Agency], WHO [World Health
Organization] and IOM [International Organization for Migration] have
issued a US$ 2.3 million CERF [Central Emergency Response Fund] request
to secure additional funding," the report said.
IRIN
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