Poor urban planning, weak infrastructure have made some African countries vulnerable to flash floods
\nKINSHASA
\nThe Congo River has risen to its highest level in more than 60 years, causing flooding throughout the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Congo Republic that has killed more than 300 people over the past months, according to authorities.
\nPoor urban planning and weak infrastructure have made some African countries vulnerable to flash floods after intense rains, which have become more frequent due to climate change.
\nFerry Mowa, a hydrology specialist at the DRC riverways authority, part of the transport ministry, said his office had flagged the high water level in late December, warning that almost the entire flood plain of the capital Kinshasa, which sits on the banks of the river, could be affected.
\nOn Wednesday, the river reached 6.20 meters (20.34 feet)above sea level, just shy of the 1961 record of 6.26 meters, he told Reuters, adding that the flooding had followed exceptionally high rains inland.
\n\u201cIt is imperative that people who live around the river move\u201d, Mowa said.
\nSeveral neighbourhoods in DRC\u2019s densely populated Kinshasa have flooded, as well as communities in more than a dozen provinces, the social affairs ministry said.
\nNearly 300 people have died and 300,000 households have been affected, with tens of thousands of houses destroyed, it said in a statement last week.
\nIn neighbouring Congo Republic, whose capital Brazzaville also sits on the banks across the river, at least 17 people have died in floods across eight departments including the capital, with more than 60,000 households affected, authorities told Reuters.
\nNo prevention plan
\nSome residents use shovels to paddle their way through flooded streets where water had risen to the roof level of some homes. The flood water have also swept thousands of discarded plastic bottles and other debris that now clog streets.
\nIn the Ngaliema municipality in western Kinshasa, the home of local resident Helene was plunged under water.
\n\u201cI\u2019ve lived in this neighbourhood since I was born and I\u2019ve never experienced such an event, but I don\u2019t have the means to go and live elsewhere,\u201d she said.
\nRaphael Tshimanga Muamba, director of a Congo Basin research centre in the DRC, called for a fund to help manage natural disasters and adapt to climate change.
\nHe said DRC has no flood disaster prevention plan.
\n\u201cI am not surprised to see that the water level is increasing to this extent,\u201d said 18-year-old climate activist Ketsia Passou.
\n\u201cWhat surprises me the most is the silence of the authorities in helping these families who are suffering the effects of climate change.\u201d
\nDRC\u2019s social and humanitarian affairs minister, Modeste Mutinga, told Reuters that a meeting will be held on Thursday to evaluate further humanitarian aid.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Poor urban planning, weak infrastructure have made some African countries vulnerable to flash floods KINSHASA The Congo River has risen to its highest level in more than 60 years, causing flooding throughout the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Congo Republic that has killed more than 300 people over the past months, according to authorities. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":380305,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-380279","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n