Extreme rainfall

The number of flooded homes in the upper zones of Xai-Xai has risen to 400 following rains that have fallen since Monday. The affected families are appealing for rapid intervention by the municipality, which currently has only 350 resettlement plots available while the identification of new areas to accommodate the victims continues.
The rain that has been falling since Monday morning has once again worsened the plight of families who, since January, have been living with water inside their homes. In the Bokola area alone, in upper Xai-Xai, 45 homes were completely submerged once again.
“There are many things inside that house that are rotting because of the water. We are suffering from the water. When it rains, we can’t even walk outside. We have to stay inside so water doesn’t flood in,” reports a resident of Bokola.
The situation is also affecting basic household activities. “We can’t even cook. We have to ask for help just to manage to cook inside. We are suffering. We are living inside water,” says the resident, who lives with six children.
The neighborhood block leader in Bokola admits that, under current conditions, the continued presence of families in that location has become unsustainable.
“We don’t have the means. If we had the means, we would have left this place a long time ago. People just feel it’s better to stay here, under water. They prefer to live day to day with water, but that is not right for a child. Sometimes you have to sleep at night. You never know when the rain might start,” he states.
The situation in Bokola is repeated across four other neighborhoods in the municipality of Xai-Xai, particularly in the areas of Madagáscar, Quartel, and Bairro 2, where approximately 400 families are living in flooded zones.
“The situation really isn’t good. We can’t even leave the house. As you can see, the children—some didn’t go to school because of this rain. It’s like this, we have nowhere to pass. As you can see, this whole area is flooded,” reports another resident.
In Madagáscar, about 30 families have already abandoned their homes due to rising waters and sought shelter in a local school.
“The waters blocked these streets. I think it rained for 24 hours. So they had to go to the school. They went to the school to stay there. The conditions aren’t good, with the water. We know that when it rains, everyone gathers in the same place. So it isn’t healthy,” the resident explains.
Faced with this situation, residents admit they are willing to leave the affected zones if conditions are created for their resettlement.
The Mayor of Xai-Xai, Ossemane Adamo, acknowledges that the situation is critical and that the recent rains have worsened the problem in the Patrice Lumumba area.
“In the Patrice area, we have about 350 families. But in Chongoene, we secured 300 plots. So we identified those who are in dire conditions because of the latest rains, which created another problem in the Patrice Lumumba area around those lagoons. We also have people living in unsuitable locations,” explains Ossemane Adamo.
The mayor states that attempts to pump out the water yielded no results due to the geographical location of the affected areas.
“We went there to carry out work to see if we could drain those waters. But because of their location, they are in a zone where it isn’t possible to build any infrastructure to drain that water,” he states.
Given the drainage difficulties, evacuating families from areas considered high-risk has become the municipal authorities’ main course of action. The process is expected to be phased and will include identifying vacant land in Xai-Xai, as well as plots in the neighboring district of Chongoene.
“The only way out is to move them from there to safe places. But this is a process we continue to work on through the partnerships we have with other partners to find a solution that relieves the suffering of those families,” says the mayor.
Ossemane Adamo explains that resettlement requires establishing basic infrastructure first in the new residential areas, since many of the affected families currently live in areas with access to water, electricity, schools, and health services.
“We have already completed that assessment. So now we are working with Chongoene. As we know, people are leaving a city where they had water, electricity, schools, and healthcare. So it is our duty to establish these conditions before transferring people to that location. This is a joint effort we are working on. We don’t have set dates yet; as I said, we must create some basic conditions at that site,” he clarifies.
In total, over seven thousand people live in risk-prone zones in Xai-Xai. Of this population, approximately five thousand are in areas classified as high risk for flooding.
Source: O País