Africa-Press – Namibia. RESIDENTS in the Zambezi region are urged to start preparing to relocate to higher ground.
Zambezi governor Lawrence Sampofu says the region is on high alert, following three days of heavy rains in the north-eastern areas of the country. Sampofu says the Zambezi River has already started to rise, and called on residents in flood-prone areas to start moving to higher ground.
“Yesterday, I went to the Zambezi River to see with my own eyes, and I could see there is already a change. We will start informing our people as of Monday to start moving their livestock to high ground,” he says.
Sampofu says while teachers and pupils in boarding schools in flood prone areas are already at school, he cautions those who commute to school in dugout canoes to take precautionary measures while on the river.
“We inform and plead with the parents that when the water becomes more, they should escort their children to school because it is not easy for young children to paddle their canoes in floodwater. It becomes very dangerous. Those with boats should be on standby and be prepared to assist the young ones to cross,” he says.
The Namibia Meteorological Service has issued a warning of possible heavy rain to persist, including risks of thunder in the extreme north-east for the rest of next week.
“Please take the necessary precautions,” said the warning. LACK OF ACCURATE WEATHER PREDICTIONS The rest of the country should brace for more dry days, as rain normally falls late in the season from mid-January to March.
Minister of agriculture, water and land reform Calle Schlettwein, says the government will assess the situation by the end of March 2022, should the dry spell persist. He blames this on weak and inaccurate weather predictions.
“If needed, we shall then roll out our drought assistance measures. The nature of the assistance will depend on the specific need and government’s ability from a fiscal point of view. What is of concern to me is the weakness in more accurate and timely weather prediction.
“We need to drastically improve our capacity to provide accurate and certain weather outlooks to farmers to enable them to better plan their activities and reduce risk,” he says.
Schlettwein adds that the livestock sector is in the process of restocking as a means of recovering from the previous drought. He says it would not be advisable to stall efforts to rebuild the national herd.
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