Kabale resident helpless after floods
Oct 14, 2009
THIRTY-year-old Moses Friday is a broken man. On the afternoon of October 3, floods swallowed up his shop, killed his 27-year-old wife Annabela Aijuka, whom he had been with for six years, and his four-year-old son Progress Ekiza. All the while, he was aw
By Frederick Womakuyu
THIRTY-year-old Moses Friday is a broken man. Clutching his two daughters on his lap, exhausted and worn out because of crying uncontrollably, he freezes into sadness and misery and cannot come to terms with the double tragedy that struck his family.
On the afternoon of October 3, floods swallowed up his shop, killed his 27-year-old wife Annabela Aijuka, whom he had been with for six years, and his four-year-old son Progress Ekiza.
A teacher by profession, Friday was away for a training workshop in Ntungamo district when he got the bad news.
“A storm had hit our village two days before the floods, leaving huge hailstones on top of the hills,†Friday says.
When the sun heated the bare hills that have been degraded by deforestation, the hailstones melted, causing massive flooding.
“At about 3:00pm, it rained briefly and my wife and child were in the shop. When it stopped, they came out, but suddenly there was a large volume of water moving very fast and with a strong force.
“My wife saw it tearing down houses and she fled. However, she realised she had left the baby behind and went back. She was never seen again,†he says.
Friday also lost a shop with goods worth sh10m and a grinding mill worth sh7m.
Kyokyezo-Bwindi parish lies dangerously at the bottom of a deep valley surrounded by several hanging and steep hills. It was swallowed by the floods which killed six other people and buried several homes, crops, animals, a school, church and water sources.
Evas Ntegyerize, another survivor may have escaped death with minor injuries, but she has only recovered three bodies of her four children that were killed.
She lost a set of twins – Princess Kyokusiima and Joel Bigabuuruhanga. Her other dead children are seven-year-old Edna Namanya and four-year-old Angel Aneibambazi.
“I went into the house, shut the door and sat on the bed with my children. But the water swept through the door,†she says.
Saved by trees
As she struggled to get out of the house, the floods carried her with the house. She was trapped at the bottom of the river for about three minutes.
By the time she recovered her breath, the water had pushed her 3km away, trapping her among uprooted eucalyptus trees.
“These trees became my saviour. I stretched my hand firmly and grabbed the branches. I gradually crawled until I came out of the water,†she says.
Still recovering at Rugarama Hospital in Kabale, Ntegyerize and her husband Nkwasibwe lost a shop with goods worth sh20m.
Counting the loss
The size of the destruction in the valley is astonishing. Vital infrastructure like toilets were washed away.
At least three villages in Bwindi parish – Kyokyezo, Bitambi and Nyamirema, have been destroyed.
Ninenteen houses were buried, leaving over 500 families homeless.
“If the Government doesn’t give us food and crops to plant immediately, we shall die,†Ntegyerize laments.
Justus Ndeebe, the LC1 chairman for Kyokyezo village is worried for lack of safe water and toilet facilities. In the village, Ndeebe and 20 other men dig out soils to clear the water springs.
Fred Ahabwe, a senior clinical officer at Bwindi Health Centre III warns of a possible epidemic outbreak.
“We are likely to have either cholera or typhoid because people are drinking contaminated water,†he says.
Some help has been coming in. The Uganda Red Cross distributed food, household items like saucepans, plates, soap, cups and blankets and promised the community medicine.
Further humanitarian assistance has been interrupted because the road was greatly destroyed by the rain. Kabale LC5 boss, Addison Kakuru, says they are using a tractor to open the road.
“However, we need to give these people a permanent solution to the crisis. It is a big challenge and I don’t have any answers now,†he says.
THIRTY-year-old Moses Friday is a broken man. Clutching his two daughters on his lap, exhausted and worn out because of crying uncontrollably, he freezes into sadness and misery and cannot come to terms with the double tragedy that struck his family.
On the afternoon of October 3, floods swallowed up his shop, killed his 27-year-old wife Annabela Aijuka, whom he had been with for six years, and his four-year-old son Progress Ekiza.
A teacher by profession, Friday was away for a training workshop in Ntungamo district when he got the bad news.
“A storm had hit our village two days before the floods, leaving huge hailstones on top of the hills,†Friday says.
When the sun heated the bare hills that have been degraded by deforestation, the hailstones melted, causing massive flooding.
“At about 3:00pm, it rained briefly and my wife and child were in the shop. When it stopped, they came out, but suddenly there was a large volume of water moving very fast and with a strong force.
“My wife saw it tearing down houses and she fled. However, she realised she had left the baby behind and went back. She was never seen again,†he says.
Friday also lost a shop with goods worth sh10m and a grinding mill worth sh7m.
Kyokyezo-Bwindi parish lies dangerously at the bottom of a deep valley surrounded by several hanging and steep hills. It was swallowed by the floods which killed six other people and buried several homes, crops, animals, a school, church and water sources.
Evas Ntegyerize, another survivor may have escaped death with minor injuries, but she has only recovered three bodies of her four children that were killed.
She lost a set of twins – Princess Kyokusiima and Joel Bigabuuruhanga. Her other dead children are seven-year-old Edna Namanya and four-year-old Angel Aneibambazi.
“I went into the house, shut the door and sat on the bed with my children. But the water swept through the door,†she says.
Saved by trees
As she struggled to get out of the house, the floods carried her with the house. She was trapped at the bottom of the river for about three minutes.
By the time she recovered her breath, the water had pushed her 3km away, trapping her among uprooted eucalyptus trees.
“These trees became my saviour. I stretched my hand firmly and grabbed the branches. I gradually crawled until I came out of the water,†she says.
Still recovering at Rugarama Hospital in Kabale, Ntegyerize and her husband Nkwasibwe lost a shop with goods worth sh20m.
Counting the loss
The size of the destruction in the valley is astonishing. Vital infrastructure like toilets were washed away.
At least three villages in Bwindi parish – Kyokyezo, Bitambi and Nyamirema, have been destroyed.
Ninenteen houses were buried, leaving over 500 families homeless.
“If the Government doesn’t give us food and crops to plant immediately, we shall die,†Ntegyerize laments.
Justus Ndeebe, the LC1 chairman for Kyokyezo village is worried for lack of safe water and toilet facilities. In the village, Ndeebe and 20 other men dig out soils to clear the water springs.
Fred Ahabwe, a senior clinical officer at Bwindi Health Centre III warns of a possible epidemic outbreak.
“We are likely to have either cholera or typhoid because people are drinking contaminated water,†he says.
Some help has been coming in. The Uganda Red Cross distributed food, household items like saucepans, plates, soap, cups and blankets and promised the community medicine.
Further humanitarian assistance has been interrupted because the road was greatly destroyed by the rain. Kabale LC5 boss, Addison Kakuru, says they are using a tractor to open the road.
“However, we need to give these people a permanent solution to the crisis. It is a big challenge and I don’t have any answers now,†he says.