Heavy rains which started on the 24th of December till Christmas day resulted in floods which destroyed some homes and food items in Chipinge District in Manicaland Province.
It is reported that the flooded Nyamukungwa River, whose origins are in the upper part of Chipinge in the Chikore area, gushed into people’s homes.
Ward 16 Councillor, Mr Raphias Mapahla Sithole, said:
It began raining on Thursday at five-minute intervals for the whole night; we woke up on Christmas Day to witness a relentless pounding of our houses. It only stopped at about 4pm.
Nyamukungwa River at Mwacheta turn off flooded and it went straight to people’s homes which could not withstand the pressure. Previously, Greenfuel had provided a grader to divert the waters into the fields once a flood occurs.
The Chairperson of Kanyi Redu Development Association, a community development-oriented grouping of people whose origin is Chipinge, Mr Sinoten Damascus Chabarirwa, said his group wishes to join hands with the Civil Protection Unit and other agencies in combating and mitigating the effects of the flooding.
The Member of Parliament for Chipinge West, Mr Sibonile Nyamudeza, said he had consulted the Civil Protection Unit to find a way to help affected families whose livelihoods have been destroyed.
The destruction comes when some families in the province are yet to recover from the effects of the tropical Cyclone Idai which destroyed homes, properties and lives last year.
Manicaland is prone to natural hazards and has since Cyclone Eline of 2000, not been spared from the ravages of climate change-induced floods which wreaked havoc on the social and economic lives of the residents.
The government has hinted that it will evacuate residents in the province and has identified evacuation centres as cyclone Chalane is also expected to hit the province.
