News / Local
Floods alert as rivers rise
03 Feb 2021 at 01:13hrs | Views
TSHOLOTSHO District is on high alert for floods as water levels in the Gwayi and Khami rivers are rising at an alarming speed.
With the Meteorological Services Department predicting more rains countrywide, the situation has struck fear in the hearts of people in flood prone villages that include Mahlosi, Mahlaba, Thamuhla, Mbamba, Mele, Lutshome, Maphili and Mbanyana.
In 2017, Tsholotsho District was hardest hit by Cyclone Dineo-induced floods. Some people were marooned and had to be airlifted to Sipepa Hospital where Government had established a transit camp.
Government had to relocate flood victims in Tsholotsho to new stands at Tshino and Sawudweni villages but some have ignored the danger of recurrent floods and returned to their old homes, which they say have rich farming soils and better grazing land.
A mother of seven children is still missing after she was swept away by floods on Sunday while trying to cross a flooded Gwayi River.
The police Sub Aqua Unit appears overwhelmed with distress calls as they could not attend to the case due to a backlog of reports.
Low-lying bridges around the area which become impassable when rivers flood have been a source of concern for years.
Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) corporate communications and marketing manager Mrs Marjorie Munyonga said Tsholotsho is a flood prone area largely because of its terrain.
"The district is a low-lying area and also has poorly draining soils which results in the area easily flooding. An investigation by Zinwa also shows that Gwayi River has some heavily meandered sections around the Tsholotsho area and whenever the water levels in the river rise and flows increase, the pressure results in the water overflowing on the meandered parts, leading to flooding," she said.
Ms Ema Mlauzi from Mbamba Village told Chronicle that news of imminent floods was traumatising.
"Word has spread that we should move. This time around, we have been told the floods will be worse than in 2017. We hope that it won't be so because Cyclone Dineo will forever live in my mind as a nightmare I wish to forget. We shall move when we see water levels rising, we hope it won't be as fast and unpredictable as it was the last time and we pray it will happen after we have harvested our tasselling maize crop," she said.
Tsholotsho Rural District Council chairperson Councillor Esau Siwela said at one point the two rivers cut off both vehicular and pedestrian traffic on Bulawayo-Tsholotsho Road.
"We fear that we might soon experience flooding in the flood prone areas. The sheer volume of water flowing in the two rivers is alarming. I hear Khami River water on Sunday surpassed the edge of the river by about 200 metres. Khami pours into Gwayi River where they meet at Nhlangano and areas like Lukukwe going forward are in danger," he said.
Cllr Siwela said the Civil Protection Unit has been alerted about the developments at the two rivers so that they take the necessary steps should the situation escalate.
"On Sunday Khami cut off traffic for three hours while Gwayi also did the same late on Sunday into yesterday morning. A funeral procession which was coming from Bulawayo to Tsholotsho was marooned for the three hours as they could not cross," he said.
Cllr Siwela said he has never seen Gwayi River filled like it was on Sunday and he feared the low-lying areas along the river could be devastated. Cllr Siwela said the major cause of the floods in Sipepa is that Gwayi River narrows when it passes the area.
"From the other parts of the Tsholotsho the river is wide but, in the flood-prone areas the river narrows and when there is too much rainfall the river banks burst because of the water pressure. Once that happens the water then flows to the homes and fields of the villagers," he said.
He said Ms Sichithekile Sibanda (43) from Dombo line is feared dead after being swept away in Gwayi River on Sunday.
"She is a mother of seven and is said to have been mentally disturbed. She left her homestead to do a piece job, cultivating someone's fields. She was last seen by two boys heading cattle along the Gwayi River. She was in the water holding onto a small tree. They tried to help her out but failed as the tide was too strong. They left her and rushed to seek help but it seems she got tired of holding on or the part of the tree she was holding onto broke. She was nowhere to be seen when they returned with more people," he said.
Cllr Siwela said the Police Sub-Aqua Unit was alerted but they said they are attending to a call in Beitbridge and they would rush to another in Nkayi before they could come to Tsholotsho. CPU national director Mr Nathan Nkomo said they are monitoring the situation in Tsholotsho.
"We received reports on the people cut off. It is mainly because of the low-lying bridges in two rivers and we had put this in our contingency plans before the beginning of the rainfall season. All low-lying bridges will be flooded and pose a threat to people's lives," said Mr Nkomo.
He said there is an urgent need to look into the low-lying bridges across the country as they pose a danger to motorists.
"The only solution to the two bridges is to raise them up, but this is a long-term plan. Another challenge is that these two bridges are one-way bridges which is a cause of concern because you do not want people competing to cross such bridges. We will discuss the issue with the Transport and Infrastructure Development Ministry," he said.
Mr Nkomo said CPU working with its stakeholders at grass root level will continue to raise awareness on the flooding in Tsholotsho while monitoring the situation in the two rivers.
"Our projection was a six-month rainfall period from October last year to the end of March this year. We agreed with our sub national structures including our traditional leaders that we must not stop even if the rainfall season continues beyond March because of climate change which could prolong the rainy season," he said.
The MET department has in recent weeks warned of heavy downpours exceeding 30mm in 24 hours in most parts of the country but some areas like Chinhoyi have received more than 80mm in a day.
With the Meteorological Services Department predicting more rains countrywide, the situation has struck fear in the hearts of people in flood prone villages that include Mahlosi, Mahlaba, Thamuhla, Mbamba, Mele, Lutshome, Maphili and Mbanyana.
In 2017, Tsholotsho District was hardest hit by Cyclone Dineo-induced floods. Some people were marooned and had to be airlifted to Sipepa Hospital where Government had established a transit camp.
Government had to relocate flood victims in Tsholotsho to new stands at Tshino and Sawudweni villages but some have ignored the danger of recurrent floods and returned to their old homes, which they say have rich farming soils and better grazing land.
A mother of seven children is still missing after she was swept away by floods on Sunday while trying to cross a flooded Gwayi River.
The police Sub Aqua Unit appears overwhelmed with distress calls as they could not attend to the case due to a backlog of reports.
Low-lying bridges around the area which become impassable when rivers flood have been a source of concern for years.
Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) corporate communications and marketing manager Mrs Marjorie Munyonga said Tsholotsho is a flood prone area largely because of its terrain.
"The district is a low-lying area and also has poorly draining soils which results in the area easily flooding. An investigation by Zinwa also shows that Gwayi River has some heavily meandered sections around the Tsholotsho area and whenever the water levels in the river rise and flows increase, the pressure results in the water overflowing on the meandered parts, leading to flooding," she said.
Ms Ema Mlauzi from Mbamba Village told Chronicle that news of imminent floods was traumatising.
"Word has spread that we should move. This time around, we have been told the floods will be worse than in 2017. We hope that it won't be so because Cyclone Dineo will forever live in my mind as a nightmare I wish to forget. We shall move when we see water levels rising, we hope it won't be as fast and unpredictable as it was the last time and we pray it will happen after we have harvested our tasselling maize crop," she said.
Tsholotsho Rural District Council chairperson Councillor Esau Siwela said at one point the two rivers cut off both vehicular and pedestrian traffic on Bulawayo-Tsholotsho Road.
"We fear that we might soon experience flooding in the flood prone areas. The sheer volume of water flowing in the two rivers is alarming. I hear Khami River water on Sunday surpassed the edge of the river by about 200 metres. Khami pours into Gwayi River where they meet at Nhlangano and areas like Lukukwe going forward are in danger," he said.
"On Sunday Khami cut off traffic for three hours while Gwayi also did the same late on Sunday into yesterday morning. A funeral procession which was coming from Bulawayo to Tsholotsho was marooned for the three hours as they could not cross," he said.
Cllr Siwela said he has never seen Gwayi River filled like it was on Sunday and he feared the low-lying areas along the river could be devastated. Cllr Siwela said the major cause of the floods in Sipepa is that Gwayi River narrows when it passes the area.
"From the other parts of the Tsholotsho the river is wide but, in the flood-prone areas the river narrows and when there is too much rainfall the river banks burst because of the water pressure. Once that happens the water then flows to the homes and fields of the villagers," he said.
He said Ms Sichithekile Sibanda (43) from Dombo line is feared dead after being swept away in Gwayi River on Sunday.
"She is a mother of seven and is said to have been mentally disturbed. She left her homestead to do a piece job, cultivating someone's fields. She was last seen by two boys heading cattle along the Gwayi River. She was in the water holding onto a small tree. They tried to help her out but failed as the tide was too strong. They left her and rushed to seek help but it seems she got tired of holding on or the part of the tree she was holding onto broke. She was nowhere to be seen when they returned with more people," he said.
Cllr Siwela said the Police Sub-Aqua Unit was alerted but they said they are attending to a call in Beitbridge and they would rush to another in Nkayi before they could come to Tsholotsho. CPU national director Mr Nathan Nkomo said they are monitoring the situation in Tsholotsho.
"We received reports on the people cut off. It is mainly because of the low-lying bridges in two rivers and we had put this in our contingency plans before the beginning of the rainfall season. All low-lying bridges will be flooded and pose a threat to people's lives," said Mr Nkomo.
He said there is an urgent need to look into the low-lying bridges across the country as they pose a danger to motorists.
"The only solution to the two bridges is to raise them up, but this is a long-term plan. Another challenge is that these two bridges are one-way bridges which is a cause of concern because you do not want people competing to cross such bridges. We will discuss the issue with the Transport and Infrastructure Development Ministry," he said.
Mr Nkomo said CPU working with its stakeholders at grass root level will continue to raise awareness on the flooding in Tsholotsho while monitoring the situation in the two rivers.
"Our projection was a six-month rainfall period from October last year to the end of March this year. We agreed with our sub national structures including our traditional leaders that we must not stop even if the rainfall season continues beyond March because of climate change which could prolong the rainy season," he said.
The MET department has in recent weeks warned of heavy downpours exceeding 30mm in 24 hours in most parts of the country but some areas like Chinhoyi have received more than 80mm in a day.
Source - chroncile
