At least Three more people lost their lives after extensive flooding triggered by heavy rains hit several parts of Rwanda’s western, northern regions and Kigali, according to officials on Tuesday.
According to the ministry of Disaster Management and Refugee Affairs, torrential rains late on Monday also caused landslides, destroying 42 houses, damaging water facilities and leaving hundreds of people stranded especially in Rutsiro and Ngororero districts in the west of the country.
The incessant rainfall in southern Rwanda for the last two days also damaged water pipes and killed five livestock, the Permanent Secretary at the ministry of Disaster Management and Refugees Affairs, Olivier Kayumba told reporters in Kigali.
Several houses and hectares of agricultural land were washed away as rains hit more than a dozen villages in Gicumbi and Gakenke, two mountanious districts in northern Rwanda, according to the same source.
The meteorological agency said that heavy rainfall were expected in most parts of Rwanda on Tuesday.
In most parts of the East African region, including Rwanda, experts say heavy rains are mainly caused by a condition in the atmosphere called “low pressure” in the Indian Ocean that is pulling drivers of heavy rains eastward.
These drivers of rains are called “The Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone, or ITCZ” and they are in every country in the region, it said.
Latest figures from the Ministry of Emergency Management (MINEMA) show that 70 people died countrywide between January and September 2019, due to disasters in Rwanda.
Estimates also show that 177 people were injured during the same period, 4,095 houses were damaged, 6,708 hectares of crops destroyed, and 167 livestock killed.
In addition, reports indicate that disasters – mainly floods, landslides, and lightning strikes – killed 234 people and injured 268 others.
In 2018, Rwanda lost Rwf 204 billion ($224 million) due to disasters, while the value of damages for the year 2017 was estimated at a whopping Rwf 6.7 billion ($ 73 million).
CU/as/APA