By Chrispin Inambao KATIMA MULILO What is expected to be the worst flooding in recent memory has already stranded hundreds of plain-dwellers and their livestock, while dozens of huts are swamped in the floodplain stretching from Lisikili to Itomba in the flood-prone area of the Caprivi Region. Yesterday, Caprivi Regional Governor Bernard Sibalatani led a team that included journalists who were flown by helicopter over the swamped area that from the air resembles a sea dotted with tiny huts and marooned herds of grazing cattle. The marooned cattle could be seen grazing on patches of what remains of the areas still not yet flooded while villagers in desperation could be seen trying to get them to drier ground. The government appears to have taken the flooding on a very serious note as yesterday it dispatched the Permanent Secretary at Cabinet Secretariat, Mbeuta Uandjarakana, and the Acting Director in the Directorate of Disaster Management, Gabriel Kangowa, who were in the team that was flown to the flooded areas to assess the floods first-hand. And late yesterday afternoon they were locked up in a meeting with officials from the Regional Emergency Management Unit (Remu) chaired by the regional governor. Namibia Red Cross Society and UN humanitarian agencies are involved in the mission that today would be flown to villages that are also swamped in Sangwali constituency. Even though the water level has already exceeded the watermark of preceding floods and even that of 2004, when villagers incurred severe crop and stock losses, sources are saying the worst is yet to come because another flood wave is expected to gush into the floodplains along the Zambezi River. Yesterday’s two-hour long flight took the team over settlements at Lisikili, Kalimbeza, Schuckmannsburg, Malindi, Nsundwa, Itomba, Muzii, Kasika and Itomba and lastly over Lake Lyambezi. Journalists saw a flooded sugar plantation and a lodge completely surrounded by water while many roads have been washed away. Several schools are also marooned. Crops fields and several huts are partially submerged in water and the only form of transport to these areas appears to be by boat, dug-out canoe or by air, while roads have been rendered impassable by the floodwaters that continue to rise, causing a lot of anxiety. Uandjarakana said the main purpose of his mission was to assess first-hand the severity of the floods and that by Monday his team would be able to map the way forward. He bemoaned the fact that the helicopter could not land at any of the settlements as he would have liked to see if the people have sufficient food, potable water and medical supplies. The official further said ideally a smaller helicopter should have been availed so that the team could have landed at what he termed “sample settlements” to make a very factual assessment and that a boat would also have been more preferable. As government has made a commitment to ensure lives are not lost unnecessarily, Uandjarakana said the issue of overtime and per diem claims should not impact on the exercise in any way as those affected are in fact related to some of the officials.