Over the festive season, the country has been experiencing continuous rains, and Harare has faced some brunt of it. The Meteorological Services Department forecasted that the country, like most Southern African countries, would experience the El Niño-induced drought. [click here to watch video]
During El Niño episodes the normal patterns of tropical rain and atmospheric circulation are disrupted, hence triggering extreme climate events like droughts, floods and affecting the intensity and frequency of hurricanes.
At the beginning of this summer season, Zimbabwe was scotched by intense heat spells which burned all the maize people had planted when the rains poured in October and November. In some areas like Beitbridge and Kariba, temperatures smashed 40°C.
The heat spell was followed by extremely wet conditions now rampant across Zimbabwe. The rains have been so incessant that Harare Mayor Jacob Mafume warned residents in low-lying areas like Budiriro, Hopley and Kuwadzana to swiftly evacuate their homes.
“These floods are serious. We have already lost two lives to the floods that occurred a few days ago and huge amounts of property worth thousands have been destroyed. We have created two camps with the help of the Civil Protection Unit. The two camps are in Budiriro 2 Primary School and Kuwadzana 3 Primary School. We encourage those living in vulnerable areas to make their way towards those camps.”
So far, over 90 families are now homeless owing to the floods ravaging Harare.
In a video circulating online, one family had their home flooding as the water was reaching the knees and seeping into permeable furniture like sofa.
Zimbabweans online expressed mixed sentiments to the flooding in Harare.
Mfulo:
“The question should be who allocated the stands there? What kind of a house where you have to take sabbatical every rain season.”
Lynn:
“Pane kuti dai makatanga kare kugadzira drainage system!!!”
Igwe:
“Kkkkkkkkk. So every season they evacuate.”
Chifarayi:
“People were warned about building on Wetlands. Some even built on waterways. They believed special foundations made them safe. Now they blame drainage and are ignoring messages to move. You can argue with JMafume, insult him even. You can’t fight nature.”
