NAMIBIA-ZAMBIA: Overflowing Zambezi floods homes and fields

Photo: IRIN

The higher-than-usual Zambezi River flooded homesteads in Zambia and Namibia

JOHANNESBURG, 20 May 2003 (IRIN) - Flooding has hit communities along the banks of the Zambezi river in southwestern Zambia and across the border in Namibia. The authorities in Zambia are still collecting information, but so far at least 120,000 people have been identified as needing help in Kalabo district which borders Angola. Figures are not yet in for the other affected districts. Rising flood waters are normal along the path of the Zambezi. But vastly increased levels this year caught communities unawares in Senanga, Lokhulu and Zambezi West, forcing them to flee their homes, Webby Mulubisha, permanent secretary in Zambia's Office of the President, told IRIN on Tuesday. The Zambezi's headwaters begin close to where the boundaries of Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia meet. Water levels were higher than usual this year due to increased rainfall. "It came all of a sudden and was one of the highest levels seen since 1958. Crops were flooded, and when people move quickly they don't carry a lot of belongings, especially food," Mulubisha commented. "At the moment we are zeroing in on food as an immediate need," Mulubisha said, adding that the government was already delivering maize to Mongu, the capital of Western province, for distribution. "Some people are still in their homes and some are displaced, but they don't have enough food at the moment." Zambia is one of six southern African countries needing urgent food aid following drought-induced shortages last year. Although this year's crops look more promising, floods brought by cyclone Japhet in March to the southern regions have already compromised food security in some households. Mulubisha said although the government was indebted to NGOs, church groups and the World Food Programme for their support, it still needed help airlifting relief food and supplies to dry areas for distribution and would "welcome any other assistance". Across the border in Namibia's eastern Caprivi region, about 12,000 people have been affected by the vastly raised water levels of the Zambezi, and two people were killed. Gabriel Kangowa, head of the country's Emergency Management Unit, told IRIN the government was working with NGOs to provide emergency relief to the families who needed food, medical supplies, tents and mosquito nets. As a temporary measure, clinics were being supplied with extra medication and one extra nurse per clinic, and school classes were expected to resume soon in tents, as the schools were still flooded. Kangowa said many people lost their maize and sorghum crops in the flood, with only those who had harvested early escaping the devastation. Many people in the affected communities were already dependent on relief food following a drought and were now cut off from these supplies. The government was providing relief food to about 345,000 people, mostly in the Caprivi region, who faced critical food shortages. Communities had been warned about the rapidly rising water but did not expect such high levels and were reluctant to leave their homes. With roads inaccessible, relief workers were using helicopters and river boats to ferry supplies.