Northern Floods Declared Over

Oswald Shivute

21 July 2011

The Oshana Regional Flood Emergency Co-ordinating Office (Femco) at Oshakati has declared this year’s floods officially over for six northern regions.

The Oshana Regional Flood Coordinator, Albertina Aipinge, told The Namibian over the weekend that many of the flood victims who were at the Oshoopala and Ekuku flood victim centres had returned to their homes during the last two weeks. There are only a few people left who are expected to return home this week before the closure of the two centres.

When The Namibian visited the Oshoopala and Ekuku centres, it only found two families at Oshoopala, those of Kauna Samwel and Hatutale Kashuku, both from the Oneshila informal settlement at Oshakati.

Samwel said her house is still wet and they cannot return yet but the Oshakati Town Council has told them to leave the flood centre.

“We have found a neighbour in Oneshila who is willing to host us in his yard and we will definitely take up this offer,” she said, adding that the town council has promised them a tent.

Before they closed the flood office at Oshakati on Friday, the coordinator of Femco, Clement Mwala, said most flood-affected communities will still need food aid to sustain themselves until the next harvest.

Mwala has called on donors to continue channelling their contributions through the Directorate of Disaster Risk Management (DDRM) in the Office of the Prime Minister in Windhoek, or through the Regional Flood Emergency Coordinating offices.

More than 3 000 people were severely affected by the 2011 flood in Oshakati alone.

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