BOTSWANA: "Normal" seasonal flooding begins

JOHANNESBURG, 13 April 2004 (IRIN) - The "normal" seasonal flooding of the Okavango river in northern Botswana began this week, a disaster official told IRIN on Tuesday. The situation in the Okavango delta, which had been experiencing unusual flooding since February, was expected to be compounded, according to Joyce Mosweu, director of the National Disaster Management Unit in Botswana. About 992 households had been affected in Ngamiland province, where the delta is located. While no casualties had been reported, there had been extensive damage to roads and infrastructure, she added. The delta normally floods in May, when Angola receives seasonal downpours, but heavy rains in the neighbouring country during the past two months had caused the Okavango river to begin swelling since February. The condition of the 600 people residing on the river islands of Jao Flats and Xaxaba, who had been refusing to move to drier areas since February, had now become a "serious cause for concern", Mosweu said. "The islands are already experiencing flooding, but the water level has not reached dangerous levels yet. We feel that they [the residents] will become even more stubborn now, and will cite the fact that they had been unaffected by the first phase of flooding," she explained. The disaster unit is expected to tour the area next week for an assessment of the situation.