09/10/2015
Brace for heavy rain, says govt
Weather experts have asked people living in areas
susceptible to flooding to immediately vacate
Government has warned of heavy floods and
landslides across the country in the coming
months.
Weather experts have asked people
living in areas susceptible to flooding to
immediately vacate before heavy rain
characterised by El Nino starts.
El Niño, which is a periodic climatic
occurrence where waters of the eastern
tropical Pacific warm to trigger potential
consequences for global weather, is
predicted to start late this month.
“People living in flood-prone areas such
as Bwaise (a Kampala suburb), Kasese,
Bududa [districts] should move to safer
areas now,” said Ms Lillian Nkwenge, the
public relations officer of the Uganda
National Meteorological Authority
(UNMA), a government agency mandated
to forecast weather, early this week.
Ms Nkwenge asked people to adhere to
the advisory to avoid deaths and loss of
property during heavy rain. Local
authorities have been advised to unblock
sewerage systems and those who have
been cultivating crops in wetlands to
stop so as to reduce flooding.
Last month, Environment minister
Ephraim Kamuntu said Bududa and
Butaleja districts, the Rwenzori and Teso
sub-regions will be most hit given their
geographical and climatic settings. The
minister warned that the season will be
characterised by heavy floods,
landslides, dusty winds and lightning.
Ms Nkwenge said the gravity of the
anticipated rain will be the heaviest in
50 years and advised people to plant
matooke, cassava, among others; crops
she said can resist heavy rain.
Ms Nkwenge said a task force has been
formed in the Office of the Prime
Minister to prepare for the disasters and
international non-governmental
organisations are on board.
