Floods devastate Kasese homes

By THEMBO KAHUNGU MISAIRI & FELIX BASIIME 
Posted  Monday, November 14  2011 (Link: http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/-/688334/1272672/-/bgu5t2z/-/)

In Summary

Several houses have been destroyed rendering some locals homeless, yet the situation is expected to persist. This could lead to a repeat of the 2007 floods in the east, according to officials.

Kasese: Barely a day after weather experts predicted that the country will again be blanketed in fresh floods as bad as those of 2007, Kasese District was on Saturday soaked in floods again after six months.

Weather experts, according to Sunday Monitor yesterday, have warned that flooding similar to that of 2007, which displaced hundreds of thousands in eastern Uganda, will re-emerge in several parts of the country.

Demolishing buildings
Several houses in the western district of Kasese were on Saturday drenched in floods and others destroyed after a downpour. In Kihungu Parish, Kyalhumba Sub-county, eight houses collapsed with unspecified number of domestic birds killed, according to Robert Kyana, the area councillor.

In Mahango Sub-county, Buhandiro Church of Uganda was unroofed. The church coordinator, Mr Alex Mukababirwa, said they need more than Shs3 million to put back the roof.

Also affected is Mr Donia Thembo the LCI Chairman of Kinyamathe village, Luhiri Parish in Mahango Sub-county, whose family spent the night in the cold after the main house and kitchen collapsed.

Other areas affected include, Kinyateke village in Lake Katwe Sub-county where at least four houses have been confirmed to have collapsed. Ten others were brought down at Kitabu Trading Centre in Kyallhumba Sub-county, costing traders property worth millions of shillings.

In Railway Ward, Kasese Town and Kilembe Quarters in the Central Division, over 300 houses were drenched in floods. Ms Alice Biira, who stays at Kilembe Quarters, said they had nowhere to stay for the night because the whole place was flooded limiting movements.

“We were helped by neighbours who gave us where to sleep because our house was flooded. We are very hungry now that we did not cook supper. I am tired of this problem, my uncle bought this house in a dry season, we did not know that such a situation would come” Ms Biira said.

In Kasese town, there was a traffic jam for more than two hours in Kiteso, few metres from the Kasese Cobalt Company Ltd. as the Kasese-Mbarara road was blocked by the floods for some time.

The LCI Vice Chairman for Railway village, Mr Julius Monday, attributed the problem of persistent floods in the area every rainy season to the poor drainage system in Kasese Town, calling upon the relevant authorities to address the situation.

 

Out of hand

The minister for disaster preparedness, Dr Stephen Mallinga has warned that the situation may get out of hand in some districts as heavy rainfall, which started in March, triggers water-logging and flooding.

The western region focal person and public awareness officer for NEMA, Mr Jeconious Musingwiire reasons that “Kasese will be hit by floods for some time because the green cover has faded on the hills around it which leads to surface run offs, poor tilling of land, river banks have been cultivated so the rivers burst when it rains or when there is an overflow from the snowcapped mountain.”

Dr Mallinga said the floods have also destroyed crops and road infrastructure in many areas in Central, Western, Northern and West Nile sub-region.

Mr Musa Ecweru, Dr Mallinga’s deputy, said if the rain continues, the floods will be similar to that of 2007 that affected approximately 60,000 households, or 400,000 people – 80 per cent of them children and women.

In Summary

Kasese district is located along the Equator in the western region of Uganda. It borders the districts of Kabarole and Bundibugyo in the north, Lake George and Kamwenge in the east, Rubirizi district and Lake Edward in the south and the Democratic Republic of Congo in the west.

The district has an approximate total area of 31,205 sq km that is covered by wetlands, water and savannah type of vegetation. It has a mountainous terrain in the north with flat plains in the south.

        

It receives an average rainfall ranging between 900-1600mm annually and two rain seasons that come between March to May and August to November. Temperatures normally range between 23.9ºc and 30.0ºc

In October 2004, 217 families (about 1500 people) in Karusandara were left homeless after floods hit the area

On May 6, 201, floods hit Kasese municipality and destroyed several properties and gardens.

Mount Rwenzori is covered by snow throughout the year and is an important source of numerous tributaries to Lake Victoria and the Nile River.

Rivers Nyamwamba, Rwimi, Mobuku, Ssebore, Lhubiriha, Mpanga, Nyamugasani among others and several streams flow from Mount Rwenzori and most of them burst due to sand excavation on their banks causing flooding.

People living on the slopes of the mountain basically practice poor farming methods thus causing soil erosion and numerous landslides.

Deforestation is another major problem facing the mountain ranges. Over 90 percent of the communities living on the mountain slopes depend on firewood for fuel, leading to extensive destruction of forests letting floods in the low lands and global warming as the glaciers have been greatly affected and are disappearing steadily.

                       

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