Rains cause landslides in Kariba

Incessant rains which have been hitting the country in recent days have led to landslides in Kariba with debris covering roads amid indications that rains within 24 hours neared all time highs for the resort town.

Kariba recorded between 53 and around 80 millimetres of rains in 24 hours, which comes close to the highest recorded volume of around 100mm.

With fears of increased incident of drought owing to climate change, the development comes as a relief, raising hope that Lake Kariba will fill up earlier than projected.

Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) which manages the Zambezi River, Lake and installations including the dam have estimated that with good rains, the lake would fill up in 2023.

However, that is expected to change as bountiful rains in the Lake Kariba catchment have resulted in Lake levels rising considerably.

Readings on three gauging sites in Kariba showed that Heights recorded around 62mm, Kariba Airport (53mm) and site in Chawara recorded 76mm between Friday and Saturday.