Oshigambo village in the North under water

THE Oshigambo River in the Oshikoto Region has come down in flood for the first time in about 50 years.

The river cut off the Oshigambo High School from its hostels and children could not attend school on Friday. Classes are expected to resume today, school principal Phillipus Henock and Oshigambo Circuit Inspector Nicky Uugwanga said.Many children from villages northeast of the Omukwiyugwemanya Combined School and the Oshigambo Primary School could also not attend classes on Friday.Many houses and cuca shops built in the riverbed have also been flooded.The former Mayor of Ondangwa, Otto Kapia, told The Namibian that the Oshigambo River used to be a perennial river but it dried up in the 1950s when a dam was built in Angola.”We have been here since 1981 and we haven’t seen such a flood in this river.We never even thought that it could flood like this,” said the principal’s wife, Sofia Henock.”This just shows us that this year’s rain is heavy and we have to prepare ourselves otherwise we will be washed away,” she added.Another resident, Teeleleni Mutilifa, said he and his family have lived at Oshigambo since 1992 and built their house in the riverbed because they never thought it would flood.”My house, my cuca shop, my vehicles and tractor are now under water and I really do not know what to do now,” Mutilifa said.He said the flood came suddenly while they were sleeping in the early hours of Friday morning.Heavy rain has been falling in many parts of the Ohangwena, Omusati, Oshikoto and Oshana regions in the North and many people who have built in or near oshanas are at risk of flooding.A resident of Onalunike village in the Oshikoto Region, Hambeleleni Petrus, said her house and mahangu sheds were washed away last week.A prominent businessman and farmer from the Ombalantu area in the Omusati Region says he has been trapped on his farm in the Tsumeb district since last week.His only access road was cut off by a swollen river.Classes are expected to resume today, school principal Phillipus Henock and Oshigambo Circuit Inspector Nicky Uugwanga said.Many children from villages northeast of the Omukwiyugwemanya Combined School and the Oshigambo Primary School could also not attend classes on Friday.Many houses and cuca shops built in the riverbed have also been flooded.The former Mayor of Ondangwa, Otto Kapia, told The Namibian that the Oshigambo River used to be a perennial river but it dried up in the 1950s when a dam was built in Angola.”We have been here since 1981 and we haven’t seen such a flood in this river.We never even thought that it could flood like this,” said the principal’s wife, Sofia Henock.”This just shows us that this year’s rain is heavy and we have to prepare ourselves otherwise we will be washed away,” she added.Another resident, Teeleleni Mutilifa, said he and his family have lived at Oshigambo since 1992 and built their house in the riverbed because they never thought it would flood.”My house, my cuca shop, my vehicles and tractor are now under water and I really do not know what to do now,” Mutilifa said.He said the flood came suddenly while they were sleeping in the early hours of Friday morning.Heavy rain has been falling in many parts of the Ohangwena, Omusati, Oshikoto and Oshana regions in the North and many people who have built in or near oshanas are at risk of flooding.A resident of Onalunike village in the Oshikoto Region, Hambeleleni Petrus, said her house and mahangu sheds were washed away last week.A prominent businessman and farmer from the Ombalantu area in the Omusati Region says he has been trapped on his farm in the Tsumeb district since last week.His only access road was cut off by a swollen river.