Over 4,000 displaced by floods in Karamoja

    

 

This happened at about 1:00pm on Thursday after a heavy downpour that lasted over seven hours.

The affected villages include Puta, Piire, Kurubo and Kalapata in Kamion sub-county, about a kilometre from the Uganda-South Sudan border. 

 

The district chairman, Joseph Midi, on Saturday told New Vision on phone that the people have been left helpless, adding that the district had also been hit by famine following failed harvests caused by torrential rains last year.

 

Midi explained that the mudslides destroyed homes, crops and domestic animals. 

He said most of the people affected were children and women.   Midi appealed for drugs, food and tents from well-wishers and the Government before the situation worsens. 

 

In Moroto district, three people have gone missing after they attempted to cross the flooded River Nakiloro near the Uganda-Kenya border.

 

The LC5 chairman, Mark Musooka, said the rains have also frustrated crop  production because they usually start in the morning. 

 

Musooka added that most roads in the area are becoming impassable because of the floods.

In Napak district, most major bridges have been weakened. 

 

The LC5 chairperson, Joseph Lomonyang, said the major bridge at Kangole trading centre had its pillars washed away and urged the Uganda National Roads Authority to repair it.

 

Meanwhile, in Nakapiripirit district, after a week of heavy rains, floods have displaced over 1,000 families. This comes after colonial dam in Namatata village, Namalu sub-county, burst its banks on Friday, leading to floods in the neighbouring areas. 

 

Part of Namalu trading centre as well as the parishes of Nakale, Losam, Kokwam and Lokatapan have been flooded. The district vice-chairperson, Hellen Pulkol, said people have nowhere to sleep.