Almost 1 000 flood-affected villagers evacuated in Caprivi

CLOSE to 1 000 people have been evacuated from flooded villages in the eastern Caprivi.

In addition, another 800 people have left their villages for safer areas of their own accord. The villages of Ivilivinzi and Itomba were completely evacuated by Saturday.Yesterday emergency officials were focusing their efforts on evacuating the village of Nankuntwe.At Muzii, another village severely affected by the floods, a woman reportedly gave birth to twins at around midnight on Sunday.Emergency officials were due to fetch her from the area early yesterday morning.Last week it was estimated that at least 10 000 people were affected by the floods from the rising Zambezi River – 5 000 of them were identified as being in immediate danger.The largest number of people have been transported to Kabbe where tents have been pitched to accommodate those evacuated.Reception centres have also been set up at Lusese, Impalila and Schuckmannsburg.Although the Zambezi River has remained stable in recent days, standing at about 6,7 metres yesterday, emergency teams were preparing for a second flood to hit the area soon.Head of the delegation from the Prime Minister’s office, Ndeutapo Amugulu, said yesterday that emergency officials had been warned that activity in the Indian Ocean could bring moisture overland to Zambia and Angola in the coming days, which could in turn affect the Zambezi River.He told The Namibian that he was extremely satisfied with progress made in recent days following the reluctance of many villagers last week to leave their homes.Chief Liswani III, he said, had played a major role in convincing people to evacuate their homes by making regular radio announcements and visiting many villages in person at the weekend.”People are coming in en masse [to the reception areas].It’s been going very well,” Amugulu said.Three more small boats and a larger 12-seater has been obtained from Kalizo Lodge near Katima Mulilo, bringing to seven the number of boats being used in the rescue operations.The lodge has had to close because it is now surrounded by flood waters and cannot accommodate guests.Amugulu praised the Red Cross and the Regional Emergency Management unit who were working tirelessly to evacuate those threatened by the floods.The Namibian Defence Force was called in on Sunday to assist in putting up tents and transporting people by truck from Ngoma where they were being dropped off by boat, to either Kabbe or Lusese.Impalila also faces a huge influx of people from flood-hit areas.Amugulu said officials at reception areas had been instructed to register all people being dropped there to obtain accurate figures of the number of people who had been evacuated.He said of immediate concern was maintaining the health of those now accommodated at reception centres.In the last few days no reports of injury or death as a result of the floods have been reported to officials.Last week six people were reported to have lost their lives.Emergency officials hope to have moved all those threatened by the floods to designated areas of safety by Friday.The villages of Ivilivinzi and Itomba were completely evacuated by Saturday.Yesterday emergency officials were focusing their efforts on evacuating the village of Nankuntwe.At Muzii, another village severely affected by the floods, a woman reportedly gave birth to twins at around midnight on Sunday.Emergency officials were due to fetch her from the area early yesterday morning.Last week it was estimated that at least 10 000 people were affected by the floods from the rising Zambezi River – 5 000 of them were identified as being in immediate danger.The largest number of people have been transported to Kabbe where tents have been pitched to accommodate those evacuated.Reception centres have also been set up at Lusese, Impalila and Schuckmannsburg.Although the Zambezi River has remained stable in recent days, standing at about 6,7 metres yesterday, emergency teams were preparing for a second flood to hit the area soon.Head of the delegation from the Prime Minister’s office, Ndeutapo Amugulu, said yesterday that emergency officials had been warned that activity in the Indian Ocean could bring moisture overland to Zambia and Angola in the coming days, which could in turn affect the Zambezi River.He told The Namibian that he was extremely satisfied with progress made in recent days following the reluctance of many villagers last week to leave their homes.Chief Liswani III, he said, had played a major role in convincing people to evacuate their homes by making regular radio announcements and visiting many villages in person at the weekend.”People are coming in en masse [to the reception areas].It’s been going very well,” Amugulu said.Three more small boats and a larger 12-seater has been obtained from Kalizo Lodge near Katima Mulilo, bringing to seven the number of boats being used in the rescue operations.The lodge has had to close because it is now surrounded by flood waters and cannot accommodate guests.Amugulu praised the Red Cross and the Regional Emergency Management unit who were working tirelessly to evacuate those threatened by the floods.The Namibian Defence Force was called in on Sunday to assist in putting up tents and transporting people by truck from Ngoma where they were being dropped off by boat, to either Kabbe or Lusese.Impalila also faces a huge influx of people from flood-hit areas.Amugulu said officials at reception areas had been instructed to register all people being dropped there to obtain accurate figures of the number of people who had been evacuated.He said of immediate concern was maintaining the health of those now accommodated at reception centres.In the last few days no reports of injury or death as a result of the floods have been reported to officials.Last week six people were reported to have lost their lives.Emergency officials hope to have moved all those threatened by the floods to designated areas of safety by Friday.