Email 
Print 
Crocs, snakes and hippos add to Nambia flood misery
Written by: Matthew Cochrane
Reuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are the author's alone.
"That's my house," said Dennis as he rolled up in a dugout canoe through Lisikili village about 30 km outside of Katima Molilo in Namibia's northeast Caprivi province. The village is about 3 km from the Zambezi River and has suffered severe flooding. People here are saying these floods are the worst in more than 50 years if not longer. When we arrived at Lisikili with the local Red Cross team almost 100 of its inhabitants were sitting next to their belongings on the road. Just up from where they were congregated, the waters had washed through the road, chewing away about 10 meters and sending water gushing through. The road had acted like a dam and with the section gone the land on the other side was quickly submerged. This drama has played out across the region. When we arrived this morning we were told that the floodwaters were littered with small islands, high grounds that people had fled to in panic that were now surrounded by the Zambezi River. These islands can only be reached by boat but there is a real shortage of appropriate craft. In fact, there seems to be a shortage of pretty much everything. There are no helicopters to evacuate the most isolated people. That said, those who can find sanctuary aren't bearing up a whole lot better. The local Red Cross has emptied its stocks of tarpaulins, water purification sachets and mosquito nets, and local authorities are still looking for resources before they can begin any meaningful relief effort. But even when an effective response can be mustered, the impact of these floods on these communities will be felt for many months. Allan Mwilima, a local Red Cross staffer, told me that 80 percent of what was expected to be a bumper crop has been washed away. And then the stories that take your breath away. Last week in Lisikilli a young boy was taken by a crocodile as he was playing in the rising waters around the village. Further downstream a man was mauled by a hippo as he slept in his home. Extraordinary events directly related to the rising waters. Tomorrow we head further down the Zambezi to try to bring some small but much-needed relief to isolated communities.
Reuters AlertNet is not responsible for the content of external websites.
We welcome argument but AlertNet will not publish comments that are racist, abusive or libellous.
Leave a Reply
When you submit a comment to us we request your name, e-mail address and optionally a link to a website. Please note where you submit a website address, we may link to it via your name. By sending us a comment, you accept that we have the right to show the comment and your name to users. Although we require your email address, this will not be published on the site, and is only required to enable us to check facts with you, e.g. if you are making a claim we can not confirm easily. Additionally, if you would like your comment removed at anytime, you'll have to use this e-mail address when you contact us. To remove a comment at any time please e-mail us at blogs-(at)-reuters-(dot)-com (address obscured to avoid spam) specifying who you are and what you would like removed. We moderate all comments and will publish everything that advances the post directly or with relevant tangential information. We reserve the right to edit comments in order to maintain the quality of the comments, and may not include links to irrelevant material. We try not to publish comments that we think are offensive or appear to pass you off as another person, and we will be conservative if comments may be considered libelous. Reuters will use your data in accordance with Reuters privacy policy. Reuters Group is primarily responsible for managing your data. As Reuters is a global company your data will be transferred and available internationally, including in countries which do not have privacy laws but Reuters seeks to comply with its privacy policy.
All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content in this article, including by framing or by similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters.
