Maji

It’s coming to the end of rainy season now and according to the locals it’s been a funny one.

The rains started late and people were worried about the lack of rain for their crops (since most people survive by subsistence farming, this is a big problem).  Thankfully the rains came, but they have been very heavy this year, and now there is too much water....

Flooding near Morogoro Source: http://www.ippmedia.com/frontend/?l=64008

 

 There have been floods all over the country including Dar es Salaam, Kagera, Arusha and in Morogoro where bridges on the main (only) road to the Capital city, Dodoma were destroyed as this driver found out

Last week it rained for around 48 hours in the Nyangao area, and the usually subdued river rose at least 10feet and swamped the bridge on the road to the west of the village. (Videos courtesy of Mr R from the Hospital)

 

  At the time, I was on the other side of the bridge visiting Masasi Hospital, and was informed by Nyangao colleagues that the road just past the bridge has been destroyed and many peoples houses in Nyangao had been flooded or completely swept away.

Thankfully the waters receded within a day, and repairs to the road started straight away and I was able to return to Nyangao by bus (although before the road was fixed, buses were going up to the bridge, enterprising locals offered to carry people across for a fee, and buses started on the other side of the bridge!  - even in difficult situations, Tanzanians seem to find a way to make things work!)

Thankfully nobody was hurt or killed by these floods in Nyangao, although I did hear reports of people being killed in a village around 10km from here, as a bridge was swept away.

The Bridge at Nyangao 2 days after the flood.. the river is usually a trickle, 10 feet below the bridge

 

Part of the road that was swept away

 I was talking to one lady whose house was flooded this time, she said there was plenty of warning as the flood happened during the daytime, and she had managed to move all her furniture and belongings out of the house or tie things to the rafters to protect them from the water so she escaped without damage to her property, but just had to clean the mud out of her house. 

 She told me about the great flood that happened in the 1990s.  In that flood, the water rose quickly and to around 15 feet high and it happened at night.    Many people died as whole villages were literally swept away, roads were destroyed and vast swathes of agricultural land were underwater for many weeks.  After this flood, many stronger bridges were built (which is probably why the actual bridge at Nyangao survived!) and many people relocated away from the flood plains of the river. 

When floods happen in any country they are destructive and disruptive, but the impact to poor people in developing countries is enormous.  In the villages, many houses are made of mud and wood and are simply swept away by flood waters and people’s farms are destroyed and animals lost, meaning they have no food to feed them and their families for the year.  In the cities, the drainage infrastructure cannot cope and houses and business are flooded, people cannot navigate the city roads and families’ income disappears.  Flood waters become contaminated with sewage which gives rise to disease to exacerbate the problems.  If predictions about climate change causing an increase in extreme weather and flooding are correct then it will be the poorest people who are hit hardest.

Saying all this…  today is a bright, sunny day in Nyangao!  (although there is an ominous cloud over there….)

For further reading:

http://article.wn.com/view/2011/12/22/Floods_wreak_havoc_in_Tanzania/
http://www.ippmedia.com/frontend/?l=64008 
http://www.ipsnews.net/2014/02/climate-change-triggers-disease-risk-tanzania/