The upper Zambezi has always been a treacherous river. It rises in Zambia, takes a detour into Angola before returning to Zambia. Divided in two by Victoria Falls, the upper and lower Zambezi have both become destinations for adventurous tourists.
Today, the upper part of the river has pushed past the highest ever recorded water levels. It’s cutting off communities, destroying crops and washing out the networks of small dirt roads that were the only travel system through this remote part of Africa.
Floods displace local people and cause epidemics to thrive
In Namibia and Zambia, there are warnings that many people have already been displaced by the unusually heavy flood season, as smaller rivers have cut off access and left thousands, or possibly hundreds of thousands, of people to congregate on larger towns, seeking food, healthcare and work. And those massing populations are bringing with them increased risk of epidemic disease outbreaks: malaria and cholera are traditionally associated with the rainy season, and close-crammed refugee settlements give both a perfect foothold in communities already lacking medicine and sanitation.
Shang’ombo in Western Province, Zambia, has been completely cut off by the flooding and the Zambian Disaster Committee is still trying to work out how to get food and medical supplies into the district. Meanwhile the floods have caused around $5 million of damage to roads, rail, schools, clinics and other infrastructure in the country.
El Nina responsible for record rainfalls
And the rains continue – falling with massive force on upper Zambia, the south-east of Angola and north-eastern corner of Namibia. There is already a shortage of maize and cornmeal in the markets of Zambia and the Namibian Ministry of Agriculture is saying that Namibia has experienced its worst flooding in recent times and the situation ‘is likely to get worse in the northeast’. The Namibian floods have already killed nearly 100 people and will cause at least 500,000 others, many of them small farmers growing only enough crops to support their families, into famine conditions. Northern areas of Namibia had more than 200% of their usual monthly rainfall in February alone and March rains have been even heavier.
The Zambezi’s record water level is linked to La Niña, which has caused heavier and more prolonged rainfall across the region.
Victoria Falls courtesy of Zest-pk at Flickr under a creative commons licence
