North on tenterhooks

PEOPLE in the North are bracing for the impact of the seasonal efundja flood from Angola, which is said to be on its way.

Fears are rife that when the mass of water arrives, the region will experience the same devastating flooding as last year.Residents have been urged not to panic, but have also been told to take precautions.Pauline Mufeti, a chief hydrologist in the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry, told The Namibian yesterday that because of heavy rains in southern Angola, rivers, lakes and other water bodies are now draining towards northern Namibia through the Cuvelai drainage system. She said the continuing heavy rains in northern Namibia and southern Angola, added to the waters of the efundja, could spell disaster.’The clouds in the Cuvelai look critical. Water levels have been rising since this morning. But people should not panic,’ said Mufeti. Already some people at Ondangwa and Ongwediva are looking for shelter elsewhere after their homes were flooded by heavy rains last week. Some communal mahangu farmers in the North have stopped working on their fields because they are waterlogged.’In our constituency, people have stopped cultivating their crops because they are too wet,’ said Arma Martin, the Councillor for Oshakati-West constituency in Oshana Region.He said they have received more than enough rain. ‘All oshanas [in the constituency] are full and connected to each other by water. We are now just waiting for efundja,’ Martin added. He is pleased, however, that nobody has drowned in his constituency so far.Omusati Governor Sacky Kayone said heavy rains and full oshanas in his region mean that primary-school children cannot go to school out of fear that they might drown.There are also fears of crop failures if the heavy rains continue in Omusati, he said.’But when it comes to cattle, they have enough food,’ said Kayone. Meanwhile, weatherman Victor Kaurimuje says the heavy rains will continue until Friday in most of the country, excluding the extreme northwest and extreme southeast.On Sunday afternoon, it rained heavily for about half an hour in Windhoek and 48 mm was measured in Hochland Park yesterday morning, while Suiderhof measured 10 mm. Some rivers are in flood after heavy rains in their catchment areas. Manie Swanepoel of the Namib Wüste Biltong Shop at Usakos said the Khan River was still flowing yesterday morning after heavy rains in its catchment area last week. The newly appointed Director of the Emergency Management Unit (EMU), Japhet Iitenge, said they have also been informed that the efundja is on its way from Angola.The most important thing now is to warn people in advance, he said.The continuing heavy rains have caused significant inflows into the country’s major storage dams. The Hardap Dam outside Mariental is now 72.2 per cent full, raising flood fears in the southern Town.The Naute Dam near Keetmanshoop is 86,4 per cent full, the Von Bach Dam near Okahandja 85,5 per cent, and the Swakoppoort Dam 84,3 per cent.The Goreangab Dam on the outskirts of Windhoek is already over-full at 101,5 per cent of its capacity.