ZAMBIA: Zambia prepares to open the gates of the Kariba dam to prevent damage from high water levels as the country braces itself for more flooding

Record ID: 452963

  • Title: ZAMBIA: Zambia prepares to open the gates of the Kariba dam to prevent damage from high water levels as the country braces itself for more flooding
  • Date: 6th February 2008
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WADING THROUGH WATER WOMAN STANDING ON STEPS OF FLOODED HOUSE
  • Embargoed: 21st February 2008 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Zambia
  • Country: Zambia
  • Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes
  • Reuters ID: LVAEPB2WTFGFQJ39WRC7ESELB240
  • Story Text: Zambia was braced for more rain and started evacuating people from the banks of three major rivers on Tuesday (February 5) after heavy flooding hit the country last month. The Zambezi River Authority also announced that it may open the spillway of its massive Kariba Dam to prevent its collapse, saying in a statement that the gates "may be opened at any time if the need arises."
    The government said hundreds of villagers will remain homeless if authorities decide to open the spillway gates of the dam -- one of the world's largest -- to prevent its walls from cracking.
    The dam is the main power supply point for Zambia and Zimbabwe and supplies electricity to Botswana, Namibia and South Africa.
    Financial costs could also be high, as Kariba Dam supplies power to Zambia's Copperbelt, its industrial base and the economy's lifeblood.
    Officials said the spillway gates of another dam, the Itezhi-Tezhi, may also be opened, possibly displacing thousands of villagers living along the banks of the Kafue, Luangwa and Zambezi rivers.
    The heavy rains have caused floods in most slum areas of the capital Lusaka and have killed six people in southern Zambia.
    They have raised fears of outbreaks of waterborne diseases like cholera due to a lack of proper sanitation and water reticulation.

    "There is a threat of malaria, we have got a threat of water-borne diseases, so it's a time bomb waiting to explode," said Yotamu Soko, a Lusaka resident.
    Pit-latrines have collapsed mixing sewage with rain waters and rising water levels have increased the number of mosquitoes, raising concerns about malaria which continues to be a major public health problem exacting its largest toll on children and women.

    "We need urgent assistance. There are a lot of mosquitoes here and we urgently need mosquito nets because we are unable to sleep," said Mary Mumba, another Lusaka resident.
    The government says flooding in most slum areas are a result of the proliferation of unplanned settlements.

    "The problem that we have is more to do with drainage systems and that is a developmental issue in the sense that where we are having big challenges are the areas that the settlements are unplanned," said Dominiciano Mulenga, Coordinator of the Disaster Management and Mitigation unit.
    The rains have destroyed crops, infrastructure and left thousands of people displaced especially in the worst-hit southern areas.
    Officials estimate the floods may eventually displace 1.5 million people in Zambia.
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