In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC, DR Congo), heavy flooding has impacted several villages in Kalehe territory, in South Kivu province since Thursday. According to the United Nations, at least 400 people lost their lives due to floods and mudslides triggered by excessive rainfall.
The heavy rains were especially harsh for the villages of Bushushu and Nyamukubi. The numbers of the dead are forcing villages to bury the victims in mass graves. Congo’s government has declared Monday a national day of mourning.
Excessive rainfall has been affecting the eastern DRC in particular the South Kivu Province, which borders Rwanda and Burundi, over the last week, causing rivers to overflow and flash floods that have resulted in casualties and severe damage. The worst affected area is the Kalehe Territory in the north-eastern part of the province.
The heavy rains have also fallen recently in Uganda and Rwanda. In Rwanda, more than 130 people were killed due to heavy rains. Thousands of buildings were reportedly destroyed.
While he was in Burundi on Saturday, UN Secretary-General AntĂłnio Guterres expressed his solidarity and condolences to the people and governments of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda.
“This is a new illustration of the acceleration of climate change and its disastrous impact on countries that have not contributed in any way to a warming planet”, Guterres said.
According to a UN spokesman in New York, the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO), along with other UN entities, is fully mobilized to support authorities and has donated medical supplies to the Bukavu hospital, where the injured were evacuated by boat.
“For its part, the World Food Programme (WFP) has mobilized food aid and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and partners have essential household items and capabilities to prevent waterborne disease outbreaks”, Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for the Secretary-General said Monday.
Haq said humanitarian organizations were also supporting local medical centers where some 160 people received care while the Congolese Red Cross was supporting the recovery and burial of bodies.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported Sunday, that approximately 3,000 houses have been affected by the disaster in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, of which about 1,200 have been completely destroyed.
According to OCHA, Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontière) has increased its presence to support the medical response to the injured, including the evacuation of the seriously injured to Bukavu. To facilitate access to the affected villages, MONUSCO plans to assist in the repair of some bridges based on the needs of the humanitarian community and authorities.
The area affected by the disaster is also an area that has received thousands of displaced people, particularly from North Kivu. Over the next 24 hours, more heavy rainfall is forecast over the whole South Kivu Province.