Kwando River level rising in Caprivi

THE water level of the Kwando River in the Caprivi Region is rising rapidly at the Kongola bridge, with 3,55 metres measured yesterday, close to the maximum level of 3,8 metres measured last year.

Caprivians who remained in their villages and are surrounded by water are receiving help from a German aid organisation, which says access is difficult. The highest river level ever measured at Kongola was 3,99 m on May 30 1969, said Chief Hydrologist Guido van Langenhove of the Agriculture Ministry yesterday. ‘It is difficult to predict when and how high this year’s maximum will be. The rise of the water levels in the Kwando River and the expansion of the inundated area in the Kwando River valley will be slow but persistent in the weeks to come,’ he added.The German Embassy in Namibia said a German aid organisation, Humedica, has been in the Caprivi Region since last month to assist with the distribution of food and non-food relief to displaced people in relocation camps and to those who remained in their villages, but transport routes are cut off because of the floods. ‘The German government has disbursed 300 000 euros, equal to N$3,5 million, to help flood victims in the Caprivi Region,’ German Ambassador Egon Kochanke said yesterday. ‘Our embassy runs a project in partnership with the Namibia Red Cross Society (NRCS) to assist flood victims in that region. A second project is under the wing of the German Humedica aid organisation until the end of June this year,’ Kochanke told reporters.NRCS Secretary General Dorkas Kapembe-Haiduwa said the German funding helped to distribute about 12 250 blankets, 11 300 mosquito nets, 4 000 jerry cans, about 170 000 water purification tablets, 1 000 tarpaulins and 2 900 bars of soap to flood victims in the Caprivi. According to Janika Simon, Flood Relief Co-ordinator for Humedica, 4 000 25 kg bags of maize meal were bought and distributed, 2 950 bags of beans and 3 600 bottles of cooking oil.’The situation in the relocation camps is quite challenging as not everyone has shelter and there is still a shortage of tents,’ she told reporters. ‘Distributing food and non-food items to villagers who remained at home has become more difficult as the boats we use are very small and we have to make several trips to one village to distribute the items. Water levels in flooded areas are subsiding now and getting too shallow for boats, or grass gets stuck in the engines of motorboats, while trucks get stuck in muddy areas.’ According to Kapembe-Haiduwa, sanitation is another problem. When holes were dug for pit latrines in the camps, they struck water just 60 centimetres below ground level. ‘We had sanitation experts come in who found a solution now and the situation is much better.’Namibia Red Cross Society Chairperson Andimba Toivo ya Toivo thanked the German government for its generous support.’We hope for continuous support, as it seems the floods keep on recurring,’ he said.In the Kavango Region, about 3 000 people displaced by floods are still living in relocation camps.Floodwater from the Okavango River is further pushing through the Selinda Channel. It will combine with the flood in the Kwando River to flow down the Linyanti River into Lake Liambezi later this year. The lake is expected to retain more water this year due to the massive inflow since the start of this year. Lake Liambezi water levels have been fairly stable over the last week. ‘The lake might start losing some water flowing out to the southeast into the Chobe River and back to the Zambezi River, but more water is on its way from the west later this year,’ according to Van Langenhove.