KINSHASA: According to authorities, the Congo River has risen to its greatest level in more than 60 years, resulting in flooding that has killed over 300 people in the previous few months throughout the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Congo Republic.
Certain African nations are especially susceptible to flash floods following heavy rains, which are occurring more frequently as a result of climate change, because of poor urban planning and inadequate infrastructure.
Nearly the whole flood plain of the capital Kinshasa, which is located on the banks of the river, might be impacted, according to Ferry Mowa, a hydrology specialist at the DRC Riverways Authority, a division of the transport ministry, whose office had alerted him to the high water level in late December.
He told Reuters that the river reached 6.20 meters (20.34 feet) above sea level on Wednesday, barely missing the record of 6.26 meters set in 1961. He also mentioned that the flooding had come after unusually heavy rains that fell inland.
“It is imperative that people who live around the river move” , Mowa stated.
The social affairs ministry reported that villages in over a dozen provinces and several neighborhoods in the heavily populated capital of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, were flooded.
It said in a statement last week that nearly 300 people had perished, 300,000 households had been impacted, and tens of thousands of houses had been destroyed.
According to officials who spoke to Reuters, at least 17 people have perished in floods that have affected more than 60,000 families in the neighboring Congo Republic, whose city, Brazzaville, is likewise located on the banks of the river.
Also read: Fauzia Janjua becomes first Muslim woman mayor of New Jersey
Some locals wade across flooded streets, where water has climbed to some homes’ roof levels, using shovels. Thousands of discarded plastic bottles and other garbage have been washed by the floodwaters and are now clogging roadways.
Helene, a resident of Ngaliema township in western Kinshasa, lost her home to flooding.
“I’ve lived in this neighbourhood since I was born and I’ve never experienced such an event, but I don’t have the means to go and live elsewhere,” she stated.
A fund to assist in managing natural disasters and adapting to climate change has been proposed for by Raphael Tshimanga Muamba, director of a Congo Basin research center in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
He added that the DRC has no plan to prevent flood disasters.
“I am not surprised to see that the water level is increasing to this extent,” said 18-year-old climate activist Ketsia Passou.
“What surprises me the most is the silence of the authorities in helping these families who are suffering the effects of climate change.”
A meeting to assess more humanitarian help is scheduled for this Thursday, according to Modeste Mutinga, the DRC’s minister of social and humanitarian affairs, who spoke with Reuters.
