- Title: Thousands homeless from flooding after river bursts its banks in Bangui
- Date: 22nd October 2019
- Summary: BANGUI, CAR (OCTOBER 21, 2019) (REUTERS) MEN IN BOAT GLIDING PAST FLOODED HOME IN DISTRICT 6 HOUSES UNDER WATER EXTERIOR FLOODED HOME ABANDONED BY THE FAMILY MAN STANDING ON BALCONY OF HIS HOME LOOKING AT WATER ALL AROUND IT (SOUNDBITE) (Sango) PULCHERIE SIODOGUENE, RESIDENT OF KOLONGO NEIGHBOURHOOD, SAYING "It has been a week now that we are suffering, our homes are flooded, our children, we are in very bad condition, we don't know where to go. This is deplorable and we want the president to come and see for himself because we live really badly and children are in the water as you can see. Look at the state of my children, the cooking pots and the plates everything is in the water." PEOPLE WADING THROUGH THE WATER AND MEN ON A BOAT WHO HAVE LEFT THEIR FLOODED HOME MEN IN THE BOAT CAR STUCK IN WATER FROM FLOODING (SOUNDBITE) (French) KASSA MOISE, RESIDENT OF GBANIKOLA, FATHER OF 9 CHILDREN, SAYING: "The Oubangui (river) rose and it entered the neighbourhood. It flooded everybody and some houses collapsed. You can't even see the collapsed homes because they are under water. Even my house is flooded." HOUSE AND VEHICLE IN FLOOD WATER WOMEN BUILDING A FLOOD BARRIER IN FRONT OF HOUSE TO STOP WATER ENTERING THE HOME MAN AT GARAGE DOOR MAN TAKING WATER OUT OF HIS HOUSE WITH A BUCKET (SOUNDBITE) (French) LUCIEN MOLOMBO, KOLONGO DISTRICT CHIEF SAYING: "All the people who live here have latrines but those were destroyed, it all came out of the hole and went into the water. So I think the minister of health needs to take appropriate measures and we need to inform people who live here as well." (SOUNDBITE) (French) TOH SA BENZA, MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT FOR DISTRICT 6 SAYING: "There are around 100,000 residents in the 6th district according to the figures published in 2006. So now I think we can say 6 to 7 thousand people are affected by this calamity. FAMILIES SHELTERING IN A WAREHOUSE VARIOUS OF CHILDREN IN SHELTER (SOUNDBITE) (French) TOH SA BENZA, MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT FOR DISTRICT 6 SAYING: "You can see that here in Central Africa and more specifically in District 6 that there is no collective sanitation. When you don't have a collective sanitation you end up with what we call individual sanitation, un-regulated and that means there is a risk of waste contaminating the water table and the wells in which people get water from and so the risk of illness is very high, the risk of malaria is a constant in District 6 but now we need to find solutions to get out of this situation." FLOOD WATERS AND HOUSES WOMAN WALKING IN WATER
- Embargoed: 5th November 2019 12:40
- Keywords: Flooding Rainy Season Thousands homeless from flooding
- Location: BANGUI, CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
- City: BANGUI, CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
- Country: Central African Republic
- Topics: Environment,Precipitation
- Reuters ID: LVA001B26HX7B
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: More than 6,000 people have lost their homes to flooding in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic (CAR), said the local member of parliament Monday (October 21).
The banks of the river Oubangui burst last week. Used to seasonal flooding the residents of Bangui's District 6 did not move out at the time expecting the water to recede but it was followed by heavy rain a few days later and the situation became considerably worse.
A resident of Gbanikola, father of nine children, Kassa Moise said some houses had completely collapsed.
Local member of parliament Toh Sa Benza said the latrines that are informal in this neighbourhood were polluting the river water in which residents were living and that he feared it could lead to a serious health crisis.
"You can see that here in Central Africa and more specifically in District 6 that there is no collective sanitation. When you don't have a collective sanitation you end up with what we call individual sanitation, un-regulated and that means there is a risk of waste contaminating the water table and the wells in which people get water from and so the risk of illness is very high, the risk of malaria is a constant in District 6 but now we need to find solutions to get out of this situation," said Benza.
Central African Republic is at the top of a Climate Change Vulnerability Index and listed as most at risk of flooding. Other counties include the DRC and Liberia.
A United Nations index of climate vulnerability published in 2018 shows rapid population growth and poor infrastructure is putting many large cities in Africa at "extreme risk" of threats posed by climate change. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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