Flooding is among other significant issues affecting sustainable development in Zambia. It affects many hundreds of
thousands of households annually causing
recurrent losses of material goods, endangered lives, thereby affecting progress towards sustainable human development.
According to NASA Earth Observatory report, in late March 2003, heavy rains in Zambia led to floods that displaced over 10,000 people and destroyed thousands of valuable acres of farmland and households. However, it should noted that before and after 2003, Zambia has been hit by heavy rains that have led to floods.
UNICEF reports also indicate that the main
emergencies that occur in Zambia are very much water related and are predictable. “Every year, there are floods along the riverine areas, primarily the Zambezi belt and in the unplanned settlements in the peri-urban areas. When floods occur, people are often displaced. In 2008/2009 floods, over 4,000 people were displaced along the Zambezi belt. In 2009 and
2010, over 3,000 people were displaced in Lusaka’s peri-urban settlements.
“Due to lack of drainage systems, poor hygiene, and sanitation, cholera prevails in the peri-urban settlements. In the last 2 years, averages of 7,000 cholera cases were confirmed nationally with a case
fatality rate of 2.2 per cent each year. About 80 per cent of all the cases were from the peri-urban areas in Lusaka.”
As most people are well aware, the immediate impacts of flooding include loss of human life, damage to property,
destruction of crops, loss of livestock, and deterioration of health conditions owing to waterborne diseases. As communication links and infrastructure such as power
plants, roads and bridges are damaged and disrupted, some economic activities may come to a standstill, people are forced to leave their homes and normal life is disrupted.
Similarly, disruption to industry can lead to loss of livelihoods. Damage to infrastructure also causes long-term
impacts, such as disruptions to supplies of clean water, wastewater treatment, electricity, transport, communication,
education and health care. Loss of livelihoods, reduction in purchasing power and loss of land value in the floodplains
can leave communities economically vulnerable.
And not long ago, Lusaka Times reported that perennial flash floods hit Lusaka again, “the capital city after three days of heavy rains into the new year. The worst hit areas were the Central Business District, the Light and Heavy Industrial areas including some compounds and townships in close proximity to the CBD.
“The situation worsened on Tuesday when afternoon rains blocked the drainage system leading to an over spill on the
key roads in most areas of the city. Most residents were caught unprepared for the floods and found themselves stuck in the middle of heavy pools of water as the floods wreaked havoc.
“Smaller vehicles were also stuck and some makeshift houses in Chibolya and parts of Kanyama could not stand the weight of the floods and collapsed. Some of the affected residents have appealed to the Lusaka City Council to speed up works on the construction of a new drainage system before the situation worsens,” according to the report.
Floods can also traumatise victims and their families for long periods of time. The loss of loved ones has deep impacts, especially on children. Displacement from one's home, loss of property and disruption to business and social affairs can cause continuing stress. For some people the
psychological impacts can be long lasting.
But one maybe be wondering why many households in Zambia get affected by floods? Here are 10 among other reasons.
1. Lack of responsibility:
Landlords and tenants don't want to make proper or maintain drains within their vicinity. It believed that making, maintaining and safeguarding drains is the responsibility of the local authority. Therefore, in many instances even if the landlord/tenant of a particular household has capacity to do the needful on the drain, they sit back and wait upon the local authority to do their work. Many drains across the country have gotten clogged and buried due to the irresponsibility of people in the community.
2. Poor enforcement of city planning and building regulations:
The local authority and other relevant stakeholders have not done much to enforce the law on how city planning should be done. The regulation of building standards is one gray area that needs much attention.
3. Limited awareness programs:
Most communities in Zambia do not have access to flood or weather forecast awareness programs. The worst and sad part of this is that people in areas especially rural setups do not have the capacity to build, identify and reduce risks and vulnerabilities within their communities and prepare in advance for floods.
4. Low lying nature of the land:
Some Zambians have opted to live near low-lying areas, such as the valleys of the Zambezi, Luangwa, and Kafue Rivers and the shores of the country's lakes. During rain season, households in these areas are prone to floods.
5. Rainfall intensity and duration:
Just recently places such as Lusaka, Copperbelt and North Western provinces were heavily hit by perpetual rains and many households were affected. It could be deduced that the more the rains a particular area receive, the more households get affected by floods.
6. Dumping of refuse into stream and storm drains:
This is a common trend in compounds and townships across the country. Residents in various places don't want to dig rubbish pits within their yards and subscribing to waste to management companies for garbage collection is the last thing on their mind. Hence, storm drains are turned into dumping sites blocking the water passage. A study by Brendah Habasonda on Kanyama compound revealed that to date, “poor drainage and waste disposal are chronic problems. These result into regular flooding which in turn led to outbreaks of diseases like malaria, cholera, typhoid, and dysentery”.
7. Construction of undersized drains and culverts:
Both contractors and community residents are at fault on this one. In trying to serve some money, many landlords opt to make undersized drains in their yards. Contractors also do substandard drain infrastructures in trying to serve and divert materials for personal gains. Many drainages in Zambia have bridges built with undersized culverts.
8. Building without permit in flood plains and on sloppy land:
Encroachment, corruption and the desire to become 'own' landlord among other factors have led to the system of building infrastructures without permit in flood plains and on sloppy lands. However, lately, some local authority officials have taken law in their own hands; they nologer fear to allocate plots in prohibited, dangerous or sloppy areas.
9. Absence and/or inadequate capacities of storm drains:
In Lusaka's Kanyama, Misisi, Chibolya and other areas across the country, the absence and/or inadequate capacities of drains have led to the collapse of many structure and households by floods.
10. Lack of proper maintenance of drains:
Community members and leaders in particular tend to forget or ignore the amount of damage from previous floods rather than on previous experience with and anticipation of floods. They therefore, don't properly maintain drains.
Against this, an inference that can be drawn on floods effect on households in Zambia, that is to say the country is experiencing rising human vulnerability- the differences in a household’s or community’s ability to foresee, adjust to, and recover from the impact of the natural hazard. Even long time residents who have long experience with flooding continue to suffer heavy personal and property losses. Therefore, it is suffice to state that preparedness for floods depends on capacity, ownership of a home, fear of flooding, and the amount of damage from previous floods rather than on previous experience with and anticipation of floods. As such, the ability to absorb losses from floods and continue functioning and ability to recover from floods is broadly attributed to the set of political, social, economic, and physical resources available to a household.
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About the Author
Winston Muleba Junior is a Citizen Journalist, Aquaculturist, Researcher, Writer and Disaster Management Practitioner who uses media and ICT to promote environmental conservation; science, technology and innovation. He gravitates towards environment: water, aquaculture, land, climate change and agriculture as he is skilled at juxtaposing the latest research and expert opinion with the everyday lives and struggles of people on the ground.
Email: mwenyamuleba@gmail.com
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