Albertina Nakale
Many villagers in the flood-prone areas of Kabbe North and South constituencies in the Zambezi region are being advised to prepare themselves and their belongings for possible evacuation to the higher, safer ground over the next weeks should the Zambezi River continue to rise.
Zambezi governor Lawrence Sampofu, in a telephonic interview with New Era yesterday, warned of the possibility of floods should heavy rain keep falling in the Zambezi River catchment areas. In fact, he has sent out a strong warning to livestock farmers to move their animals to higher ground before the floods hit.
“We are appealing to farmers to move their livestock to higher grounds. They should not wait for floods because it’s dangerous. There are crocodiles and hippos. There are incidences of crocodiles and hippo attacks reported last year,” he noted.
According to the Hydrological Services of Namibia daily flood bulletin released on Saturday, the Zambezi and Okavango rivers continue to rise. The Zambezi River at Katima Mulilo recorded 1.29 m while the Okavango River at Rundu recorded 4.14 m by Friday.
The water levels for the two rivers are lower compared to the same period last year. “The Zambezi River has started rising. By Friday it recorded 1,29 m compared to 1.7 m the same period last year. The water was rising late due to the late rains. We anticipate more rain by February and March,” he noted.
He said as of November 2021, some parts of the Zambezi region received some sporadic rains before it dry out in December. Sampofu said in the first week of January, they received a lot of rain with some areas having recorded 420mm of rain. Katima Mulilo alone received a total of 435mm of rain.
Equally, Sampofu said there are about 13 schools situated in flood-prone areas. He was however quick to say such schools have not yet been affected by the heavy rains. “We are appealing to parents during floods to escort their children to school using canoes because kids cannot paddle canoes on their own. We don’t want to lose any lives,” he pleaded.
“When the floods come, we are ready with tents and boats as well as the Kapelwa Kabajani ferry to help evacuate people, schools, and clinics in the flood-prone areas to higher grounds. ”He added that Epupa Investment also has a boat ready to assist the elderly in receiving their pension money as well as other people who receive social grants.
The Hydrological Services of Namibia reported flows have been observed in some of the country’s central, southern, and west-flowing ephemeral rivers due to heavy rains in their catchments over the past few days.
“Rivers in Windhoek were in flood due to heavy rainfall this past weekend. For example, the Klein Windhoek River went above the 1.2m mark on 19 January 2022,” the weather bureau reported.
High floods were already observed on the lower Orange River during the first week of January. According to the bureau, the situation requires very close monitoring and high-level alertness because it looks like there will be serious flooding on the lower Orange River.
NamWater released water at both Naute and Hardap dams by Friday, with the Naute Dam recording 200m3/s while Hardap Dam recorded 300m3/s.
These releases and further rainfall development in the Orange-Fish catchment will add to the ongoing flows in the Fish River and high flows in the lowest part of the lower Orange River downstream of the Fish-Orange confluence.
Flows in the Kunene River remain low during this time of the year.
Neckartal Dam volume stood at 94.3 % of its capacity with an inflow rate of 47.9 m3/s.
Naute Dam stood at 100.7%, and releases have stopped.
Hardap Dam stood at 72.9 %, and the release rate was increased to 400 m3/s.
Contingency planning for flood risk mitigation and recovery is to be activated, especially for flood-prone areas as more rains are forecasted.
- anakale@nepc.com.na