Caprivi villagers evacuated

EMERGENCY teams working in the Caprivi Region have started evacuating people from severely flooded areas in the eastern parts.

This comes in the wake of reports that a mother and her child – Zambian nationals – drowned near the Caprivi village of Nakabolelwa after their boat capsized. The father and another child survived.Acting Chief Control Officer for the Emergency Management Unit (EMU), Timothy Shixungileni, said yesterday that it had been difficult to establish communication with teams working in the field, but information from the regional office was that people were being shifted to drier areas.”The situation is very terrible.People are in a problem [situation] but we are trying to control the situation,” Shixungileni told The Namibian.Informing parliamentarians of the situation in the National Assembly yesterday afternoon, Prime Minister Theo-Ben Gurirab said Government would do everything in its power to avert further loss of life.”The floods are starting to assume alarming proportions and the Government has undertaken to evacuate those trapped in the lower lying areas,” he told the House.Five boats had been provided to assist in rescue operations, Gurirab said.Government had also committed itself to providing tents and food to those affected.He added that where school buildings were waterlogged Government was looking at alternative schooling arrangements.Government also planned to conduct aerial surveillance of the area.By yesterday the Zambezi River, as measured as Katima Mulilo, stood at 6,89 metres.The river dropped from 6,92 metres on Monday to 6,88 metres on Tuesday.But an official from the Water Affairs Division at Katima Mulilo, Vincent Simana, said yesterday that this was because the water was moving outwards, filling up open areas.”It was probably already seven metres but now the water is going to places where there is no water,” he said.With no rain having fallen on Monday and Tuesday, residents at the town reported that it was drier at Katima Mulilo yesterday after floodwaters began threatening several lodges and other buildings close to the river after the weekend.According to Simana, the Musanga suburb is now the worst affected area of town.Several houses are either surrounded or flooded by the rising waters.A Government agricultural project where mostly maize is cultivated is under water.Waters have also surrounded the Imukusi School and an orphanage.Simana said although many channels in town were filling up fast, it was mostly rain water.He is predicting that by next week the floodwaters could cross the Bukalo channel and enter Lake Liambezi.The father and another child survived.Acting Chief Control Officer for the Emergency Management Unit (EMU), Timothy Shixungileni, said yesterday that it had been difficult to establish communication with teams working in the field, but information from the regional office was that people were being shifted to drier areas.”The situation is very terrible.People are in a problem [situation] but we are trying to control the situation,” Shixungileni told The Namibian.Informing parliamentarians of the situation in the National Assembly yesterday afternoon, Prime Minister Theo-Ben Gurirab said Government would do everything in its power to avert further loss of life.”The floods are starting to assume alarming proportions and the Government has undertaken to evacuate those trapped in the lower lying areas,” he told the House.Five boats had been provided to assist in rescue operations, Gurirab said.Government had also committed itself to providing tents and food to those affected.He added that where school buildings were waterlogged Government was looking at alternative schooling arrangements.Government also planned to conduct aerial surveillance of the area.By yesterday the Zambezi River, as measured as Katima Mulilo, stood at 6,89 metres.The river dropped from 6,92 metres on Monday to 6,88 metres on Tuesday.But an official from the Water Affairs Division at Katima Mulilo, Vincent Simana, said yesterday that this was because the water was moving outwards, filling up open areas.”It was probably already seven metres but now the water is going to places where there is no water,” he said.With no rain having fallen on Monday and Tuesday, residents at the town reported that it was drier at Katima Mulilo yesterday after floodwaters began threatening several lodges and other buildings close to the river after the weekend.According to Simana, the Musanga suburb is now the worst affected area of town.Several houses are either surrounded or flooded by the rising waters.A Government agricultural project where mostly maize is cultivated is under water.Waters have also surrounded the Imukusi School and an orphanage.Simana said although many channels in town were filling up fast, it was mostly rain water.He is predicting that by next week the floodwaters could cross the Bukalo channel and enter Lake Liambezi.