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The warning of a violent thunderstorm this week should be taken seriously by authorities and individuals if the country is to minimise damage to property and loss of lives. The Meteorological Services Department said in a statement on Monday that the country should brace for violent storms as the rainy season begins. The department urged people to take precautionary measures. According to the department’s senior officer, Mr Jonathan Chifuna, thunderstorms characterised by lightning and strong winds are expected to cover the whole country up to Friday.

Mr Chifuna said thunderstorms at this time of the year are usually very violent in terms of lightning and strong winds. Last week heavy rains received in some parts of Matabeleland North and South left a trail of destruction. A number of schools and homesteads were destroyed between Wednesday and Saturday in Matabeleland South.

The provincial authorities who were by yesterday still assessing the extent of the damage, said close to 30 schools were affected and several homesteads. The damage to classrooms is said to have disrupted learning at a number of schools. The authorities in both Matabeleland South and North have appealed to the Government and non-governmental organisations to assist the affected families and schools.
The Government as part of disaster preparedness established the Civil Protection Unit (CPU) whose structures cascade to district level and in some cases to as low as the ward level. The CPU structures at all levels are supposed to have resources set aside to enable the committees to react swiftly to distress calls.

It is the responsibility of the CPU to assist disaster victims such as individuals marooned by floods, families whose homes are destroyed as a result of heavy rains and individuals whose houses are destroyed by fires. We want to believe that the CPU committees at both provincial and district levels in both Matabeleland North and South are already on the ground to assess the damage caused by last week’s storms with a view to assisting the victims.

The warning by the Meteorological Department as already stated should be taken seriously if the country is to minimise damage to property and loss of lives. In the past the CPU had to resort to using helicopters to airlift people marooned by floods after they ignored warnings to move to higher ground. There are areas that are prone to floods such as Tsholotsho in Matabeleland North and Muzarabani in Mashonaland Central and people in these areas should always be alert especially during the rainy season.

The CPU, we want to believe, has mobilised adequate resources as well as equipment to enable it to respond swiftly to distress calls be it floods or fires. What has been witnessed of late is that most cities and towns are found wanting when it comes to responding to distress calls. Property worth millions of dollars has been lost to fires in many cities and towns because the fire fighters are ill-equipped to handle fire disasters.

Cities such as Gweru were at one time operating without a single fire tender thereby putting residents’ property at risk. The cities or towns’ fire and ambulances services are supposed to be part of the city’s Civil Protection Unit so the fact that property is lost to fires confirms the CPU teams’ lack of preparedness.

We want at this juncture to implore the CPU structures at all levels to be ready to swiftly react to distress calls. In cases where the CPU, be it at provincial or district level, does not have adequate resources, it should not hesitate to raise alarm. The CPU at national level should constantly check the levels of preparedness of its units at all levels so that the units are not found wanting when disaster strikes. The nation can only minimise damage to property or loss of life if the CPU is adequately resourced to enable it to swiftly react to distress calls when disaster strikes.