Authorities remain on high alert

Diana Nherera Suburban Reporter

The Department of Civil Protection says there has so far been calmness in Harare following heavy rains experienced last weekend countrywide and nothing of major alarm although it remains on high alert for areas where people are settled on wetlands.  

In an interview on Tuesday this week, deputy director in charge of response and operations under Civil Protection, Mr Farai Hokonya said they have also not received any reports from schools in Harare with regards to damage of infrastructure.

“In Harare, there’s calmness.

“We didn’t record any major incidences which warrant people to evacuate.

“So besides the flash floods that you always see in town and in areas like Budiriro, there’s nothing of major alarm that was experienced in Harare. 

“Even in terms of destruction of infrastructure, in many other provinces we are recording  schools that are being affected by heavy rains. In Harare we have not received any school report concerning infrastructure damages,” he said.

Mr Hokonya said the Department of Civil Protection remains on high alert because Budiriro and Chitungwiza are prone to floods. 

“They will affect those who are settled on wetlands so our teams are always on high alert but fortunately for now, there’s nothing of major alarm that we have received that even warrants evacuation,” he said. 

Mr Hokonya said there are evacuation centres that are dotted around the city.

“In Budiriro, there is an evacuation centre which they are now used to and in Chitungwiza, the local authority has also given four or five evacuation centres nearer to these areas that are prone to these floods. 

“Fortunately, we have not utilised the evacuation centres because there is no need for now,” he said.   

Although Mr Hokonya said Budiriro and Chitungwiza were the only areas of concern in Harare because of houses built on wetlands there are other places where floods have previously been experienced in Harare West and Harare North.  

In 2021, floods hit some parts of Goodhope, Willow Creek, Tynwald North and Westgate with the rains filling up residents’ yards, damaging household property and washing away security walls, garden tools, pets such as dogs and sliding gates.  

The floods were blamed on developers who pegged stands close to rivers and streams, lack of drainage systems in recently built suburbs and clogged drains which prevent water from flowing. 

The worst affected residents were those with properties in the direction of Gwebi River in Goodhope and Willow Creek as the flooding worsened because of the overflowing river nearby. 

Mansions of all shapes and designs could be seen submerged in water while residents tried to figure out their next course of action or what they could possibly salvage from the destruction. 

At one of the houses the security wall was completely brought down leaving no boundary between the adjoining properties a double storey mansion and another property next to it.

Residents blamed lack of proper planning by the land developers and poor drainage systems for the mishap that befell the Goodhope, Willow Creek, Tynwald North and Westgate residents.  

They said the floods were a direct consequence of poor planning in Goodhope. 

The Willow Creek area was also equally badly affected as some of the stands are right beside a stream.

Although no fatalities were reported from the floods, a lot of property was damaged including household property and the buildings themselves. 

In Tynwald North, floods also affected some flats dwellers forcing them to lift furniture and clothing from the flooded rooms and put it outside. 

Those who live on the floor were the worst affected. The floods were as a result of lack of drainage systems in the area where the flats were built.

In 2018 floods hit northern Harare and left property damaged in the upmarket suburb of Borrowdale and surrounding suburbs. Some families were left stranded while property worth thousands of dollars was destroyed following the heavy rains that pounded Carrick Creagh Estate in Borrowdale. 

Trees were uprooted, a bridge swept away, security walls knocked down while the floods also swept away crops and livestock.