By Albertina Nakale
WINDHOEK- Residents of flood-prone Kabbe are warned to prepare for a possible early flood as the Zambezi River continues to rise above normal levels for this time of the year.
The level of the Zambezi River on Monday stood at 0.59m compared to 0.66m recorded in the same period last year.
Kabbe North and South Constituencies Councillor, Raphael Mbala, yesterday urged residents in the area to start preparing to move their livestock to higher ground before the floods swamp the already marshy area.
“The river is rising. It has started to overflow its banks which means those streams coming from the river are now having a lot of water, which is a sign that a flood is approaching. Most of the white sand is now covered with water,” said the councillor.
Mbala said the water is coming from the Zambezi River’s catchment areas which is north-east Angola, southern DRC and north-west Zambia.
The councillor however assured residents that the Zambezi Regional Disaster Risk Management Committee is well-equipped for mitigating the impact of a flood, saying the ferry christened ‘Kapelwa Kabajani,’ and a flotilla of banana boats and speedboats as well as a Hovercraft are ready for the evacuation process.
He also said there is a “strange trend” which they do not normally experience as there was no rainfall in the flood-prone areas compared to the highlands where it does not usually flood.
“People are not ploughing because it is dry. You can only find rainwater in the highlands in the region. This is something that is quite strange because when rain starts, it should cover the whole area. And the areas that normally get flooded are currently not getting any rain, instead it’s raining in the highlands where there are normally no floods. We really don’t know what is causing the sudden change, maybe it is climate change,” he observed. According to him, the new trend means people will now plough late and the floods will come and sweep away their crops during the flowering stage.
Ploughing normally take place about September and October and crops flower around January before the floods, which is not the case this year. “Currently people are not ploughing because it is dry in the flood-prone areas,” said Mbala.
However, the northern half of the country has been receiving good showers for the past few days.
According to the Hydrological Services of Namibia Daily Flood Report, Odibo received a cumulative 162mm between December 3 – 13 while Caprivi Marine during the same period reported a cumulative total of 56mm.
Meanwhile, Epupa Camp reported some wind and rainstorms with a total of 65mm measured between December 5 and 6, following prolonged periods of dryness in Kaokoland.
The report also said that according to employees at Epupa Camp it was the worst wind and rainstorms in 20 years with branches and leaves being flung metres away from the trees.
The report also recorded showers in the north-eastern parts of the country with Rundu reporting just over 11mm, while other places such as Gobabis, Maltahöhe, Okahao and Tsumeb received just 1mm and below.