Floods devastate eastern Caprivi

Floods have devastated parts of eastern Caprivi in northern Namibia, ‘The Namibian’ reported on Monday. The newspaper said the government was assessing the extent of the damage and displacement of villagers in the Kongolo constituency in the Caprivi. The report said that several villages in the Kwando river area were submerged, with fields waterlogged after the river burst its banks as a result of heavy rains in neighbouring Angola and Zambia. Chief control officer for planning and operations in the Emergency Management Unit (EMU), Sylvester Simwanza, said villages at Maswabelo, Manginginya, Izwii, Muchimbami and Ngulu had been hardest hit. Simwanza said the EMU was assessing the extent of the damage to see how government could assist. Apart from food, the displaced villagers might need tents and blankets as they have had to leave behind almost all their belongings. Caprivi regional governor Bernard Sibalatani said yesterday that in some areas the floods had destroyed entire crops and that the villagers would need food relief from government.