Floods kill 36 in the Midlands

Torrential rains falling in the country have killed 36 people and displaced hundreds of families in the Midlands the Provincial Administrator, Cecilia Chitiyo has said.

Chitiyo said the 36 died in separate incidents since the rains started this year.

She said the infrastructural damage ran into millions of dollars.

Chitiyo said heavy rains also washed away 34 bridges in Gokwe North and destroyed 41 households in Chief Nenyunga area in the same district.

She said a number of families had to be evacuated to higher ground in Gokwe North after Sengwa River burst its banks and washed away crops and homesteads.

"We lost 36 lives in the whole province due to drowning, lightning and vehicles that were swept away at bridges by the heavy rains," she said.

Chitiyo said most parts of Gokwe could not be navigated by road as the roads were destroyed.

She said the district was virtually marooned from other areas.

Chitiyo said 81 families were moved to nearby schools in Gokwe South after rains destroyed their homes.

She said a church organisation, Christian Care, was providing food for the displaced families.

"The district's Civil Protection Unit team is on the ground coordinating efforts to treat any injured people and strengthening existing measures to avoid further loss of life," said Chitiyo.

She said the province needed tents to accommodate the displaced families.

She said in Mberengwa, eight crossings were washed away, while a few more were washed away in Zvishavane rural and Shurugwi.

Some of the most horrific road accidents due to heavy rains have happened in the Midlands this year.

They include four people who were killed when a Zupco bus was swept away in early February at Musavezi River in Shurugwi and the Mutevekwi River Unki bus disaster which claimed the lives of four Unki Mine workers in late February.