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ZIMBABWE has received heavy rains in the past few weeks leading many to compare the floods in various parts of the country to the Cyclone Eline-induced ones years ago. So much damage has been wrought by the floods in many areas. The media has been awash with stories of flood-related incidents where there has been loss of life, livestock and damage to public infrastructure and domestic housing.
There is a tendency to read stories of such destruction and move on to the next news item the next day, relegating the earlier report to statistics regarding how many have been injured or have died due to the floods. Elsewhere in this issue we carry a story from Hwange, one of the communities that were hit by flash floods recently, displacing several people from their homes and inmates at an old peoplea��s home. We are heartened by the actions of the Lions Club of Wankie that has come to their aid and helped the community rebuild their lives. During peace time, armies prepare for war and similarly during periods of calm weather, we believe emergency response and disaster preparedness teams work on their strategies to lessen the impact of emergencies.
It is in this light that we hope and urge the Civil Protection Unit to roll out measures to deal with the impact of floods and where resources do not permit, they call for help from elsewhere. So many roads and bridges have been damaged in many areas around the country while the number of dams washed away by rains keeps rising. The key infrastructure that was wiped out within hours served a huge role in those communities and has disabled transport networks, agriculture projects and will leave many animals without a reliable source of water when the rains stop.
This is the emergency situation that stares us squarely in the face and hence the need to formulate plans at district, provincial and national level, based on the results of the CPU assessments.Some of the concerns take on an international dimension.
The Bulawayo-Beitbridge-Joburg Road that was flooded in West Nicholson disrupted traffic for 12 hours earlier in the week and we believe such floods weaken structures such as bridges.
It is our view that the relevant authorities should conduct periodic checks or tests of the strength of structures such as dams and bridges after earthquakes and floods so that we are assured of our safety around them. It would also give communities a peace of mind if they get to know when damaged infrastructure would be attended to.
We are sure there shall be a priority list and hope that private-public partnerships shall see us through. In the meantime, we applaud the CPU for periodic updates and warnings being delivered on peoplea��s phones and hope a similar approach can be used by authorities in keeping communities informed on their efforts to rehabilitate damaged infrastructure.
derick.khumalo