Floods to get worse

Sep 07, 2007

For thousands of people in eastern Uganda, life has become a nightmare as they face Uganda’s worst natural disaster so far this year.

By Alice Emasu

For thousands of people in eastern Uganda, life has become a nightmare as they face Uganda’s worst natural disaster so far this year.

Walter Okiring Elakas, a resident of Magoro in Katakwi district, is a sad man indeed.

Only a few months ago, he returned home after spending several years in refuge, having been displaced by the Lord’s Resistance Army insurgency and Karimojong cattle rustlers.

And now the first crops he planted after returning home, with support from the Government’s IDP resettlement programme, have been swallowed by floods just as they were about to mature.
Elakas’ homestead, too, has been flooded to the extent that he now needs a canoe to reach it.

“My five acres of crops have been under water for more than a month and they have rotted,” he cries. “I got a loan and took advantage of the resettlement programme to engage in intensive farming. All is lost now and I don’t know how I’m going to repay the loan.”

Like Elakas, several thousand people have been displaced by the floods since last month, while the majority are still stuck in the floods with nowhere to go, says Robert Ekongot, the LC5 chairman for Katakwi district.

Ekongot says that although no deaths in floods have been reported, the economic damage is grave and the flooding is likely to cause epidemics.

He regrets that the region lacks the capacity to promptly respond to emergencies because of the many insurgencies it experienced.

Ekongot describes the situation as catastrophic and horrible. He says in Magoro and Ngariam counties, seven out nine sub-counties are severely affected.

“The water levels are rising everyday. We have lost all the food for the last harvest and we can’t plant for this season unless the government and other well wishers join us and provide cassava and potato stems,” he says.

He points out that in Oongora camp, 3,000 people have been displaced, 800 people in Oolir camp and 1,200 people in Kipnyang camp are homeless.

The latrines in these camps are full and the residents have nowhere to help themselves.

“As I talk to you now, I’m with a mother who delivered last evening but she has nowhere to rest the baby because the whole place is flooded. I have 3,000 people to transfer today (Wednesday) but I have no means. I have no tents for shelter nor do I have food or transport for them,” he said on phone.

According to the Minister of State for Disaster Preparedness, Musa Ecweru, a total of 300,000 people have been affected; 200,000 from parts of Teso and 100,000 from Bududa in Pallisa, Aloi and Omoro sub-counties in Lira district in the last few weeks.

Thomas Okoth Nyalulu, the Resident District Commissioner for Katakwi and Amuria districts, describes the torrential rains hitting the region,as the worst since 1972.

It rains day and night. The rivers and swamps are swollen. “We are in a dilemma,” says Nyalulu.

As if that is not bad enough, the floods are threatening to cut off the Soroti-Mbale highway. Water has already started crossing the tarmac at the Awoja Bridge, eight kilometres from Soroti town.

Occasionally, unsuspecting motorists approaching from Kumi and Soroti are thrown into panic by the flow. Awoja Bridge lies at a bend.

In addition, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (OCHA) estimates that 4,000 households have been damaged.

The agency warns of the possible outbreak of diseases like cholera, skin diseases, respiratory infections and malaria.

In Amuria, most schools might not open when the new term begins next week, because of floods.
The district’s LC5 chairperson, Julius Ocen, says floods have dug up faeces from pit latrines and spread them into the school compound.

He describes the floods as the worst he has ever seen in his life. “We are helpless. local leaders and our people are desperate.”

Local governments are trying out desperate strategies to handle the disaster without adequate resources. In Soroti, for instance, schools are being requested to host families displaced by the floods.

Unfortunately, some of the schools have cracks and might collapse, says Ekongot, the district’s chairman.

He adds that the affected community need warm clothes, temporary shelter and emergency measures to clean up the water sources to prevent out break of diseases.

“We have resolved to meet daily to devise ways of managing the situation. We are also making adjustments to our district budget to accommodate the urgent need to re-open all the blocked roads ,” Ekongot says. They are also sensitising the locals to participate in managing the floods and to be aware of the catastrophe.

They have also urged them to try to relocate to safer places and not wait for the local leaders to help them because by the time they come in, it might be too late to saving their lives.

Ekongot appeals to President Yoweri Museveni and the donor community to see how best to save the lives of those affected.

In Amuria, the LC5 chairman, Julius Ocen, wants to divert money from other sectors such as health and agriculture, to support flood victims, but his hands are tied.

“Local government regulation does not allow lower local governments to divert funds already disbursed to the district for specific activities unless once again approved by the ministry,” he says.

In Soroti, the district local council has diverted its meagre resources to feed 1,000 displaced people. Moses Edonu, the deputy LC5 chairman for Soroti, says the most affected sub-counties are Katine, Kamuda, Tubur, Arapai, Bugondo, Atiira and Gweri, where most residents have fled their homes.

Ecweru led a team that is taking emergency relief for 3,000 displaced persons.

He, however, does not have enough supplies to cater for the victims. “I’m expecting food, drugs and tents from humanitarian agencies that have responded to the problem,” says Ecweru.

This, from the main man in charge of disaster response, implies that those who are displaced by the floods will continue to lack support for a while until aid agencies come in or Government diverts resources from other sectors.

As pointed out by RDC Nyalulu, the Teso floods are an eye opener, that the national mechanism for responding to disaster is not adequate.

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