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Patrick Chitumba, Midlands Bureau Chief
AS farmers celebrated the good rains, Ms Patria Manjengwa (38) woke up to see her precast wall broken, her blankets wet and food items and some valuables destroyed after water flooded her home.

She is one of many residents of Gweru who suffered due to flash floods that hit the city last week. Ms Manjengwa — a mother of two — has been living at her lodgings in Woodlands Phase 1 suburb for two years.

“It’s been a week since our lodgings were flooded following heavy rains that pounded Gweru. It’s been a week since we sought shelter at Nazarene church.

We are now back at our lodgings and still counting our losses because furniture such as beds and sofas are no longer in the same shape and state as they were before they were drenched in floods. We are still surviving from hand to mouth as we wait for pay day at the end of the month so that we can restock food because what we had was affected by floods,” she said.

Ms Joice Havava (29) of the same suburb said they have enjoyed some good four days without any rains following last week’s flooding.

“We thank God that we have been able to take our drenched property outside to dry. We have managed to wash the blankets and clothes that were drenched by the floods, but it is no longer the same. That fear of waking up in floods still haunts me and my children,” she said.

Ms Havava said comprehending the fact that the floods can determine where she and her two children sleep at night every time it rains is very frustrating.

“We are now living at the mercy of the rains. If it floods, we are forced to abandon our houses and it’s very frustrating I tell you. My bed, documents, everything was destroyed by the floods, and I have nothing left.

Even if I wanted to leave, where would I go?” she asked.In Mkoba 3, 6, 9, Ascot Infill, Mtapa, Mambo, Tinshel residents are all singing from the same hymn book.

Gweru City Council stands accused of parcelling out land in wetlands and waterways like at Mkoba 6 shopping centre. As a result, flash floods affect people’s houses because the waterways are blocked, wetlands like the Mkoba 3 Golf Course now have buildings.

Acting town clerk Mr Vakayi Douglas Chikwekwe said a forensic audit on land use in Gweru had unearthed some corruption in allocation of stands in the city.

“There were some stands that were allocated in wetlands and on water ways by the local authority which is also contributing to flooding in some suburbs. However, action is being taken to address the matter. Some officials have been taken for questioning by law enforcement agencies,” he said.

Other residents ended up fighting each other after they broke other residents’ precast walls to let the water out of their yards.
Acting Gweru City Council spokesperson Mrs Annastancia Machacha said council has engaged 46 employees, working in six groups to open storm water drains and culverts in the city centre and suburbs

.“As GCC we are responding to this issue of flooding. As we speak, we have teams in Mkoba 3,4,5,18 and 20, Ascot infill and Mtapa Hlalani Kuhle opening drainages and culverts,” she said.

Mrs Machacha also discouraged residents from putting litter in drainages.

“You find the storm water drain systems are basically blocked by the plastic and all the rubble. So, we are pleading with people to use an appropriate way of discarding their waste so that the storm water drains can remain open to be able to take the amount of water that is coming through,” she said.

In Mkoba 9, residents took it upon themselves to block a road with gravel as a way of diverting floods flowing into their houses. An environmentalist, Mrs Emmah Kachingwe said to adapt to climate change, authorities must ensure they enforce policies that stop people from building in flood prone areas.

“Residents should desist from building in flood-prone areas and at the same time, local authorities like Gweru City must not give building permits for stands allocated in flood prone areas.

Authorities must relentlessly discourage illegal construction of buildings on water courses and clean up water drains regularly to ensure that water is allowed to flow.

“They should also create artificial flood plains and allow natural flood plains to remain because they absorb major run-offs from the cities,” she said. Mr Christopher Chakwana, a climate expert said as carbon emissions continue, the effects of global warming are being felt mostly in poor countries across the world.

“The world”s poorest communities are the hardest hit, and those in Africa are frequently experiencing extreme weather outside the natural variability of the African climate. Zimbabwe has not been spared from the effects of global warming,” said Mr Chakwana.

According to the Meteorological Services Department, since 1987 the country has experienced its six warmest years on record, with daily minimum and maximum temperatures having risen by approximately two degrees Celsius over the past century. This has seen the country experience extremes of weather over the past two decades.

The country has had to deal with 10 droughts, decreased freshwater and destroyed biodiversity.

According to a study by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, climate change resulting from global warming is attributed to anthropogenic influences, leading to many consequences, one of which is flooding. Rainfall variation is projected to continue to increase, hence many communities are vulnerable to flooding.

“Extreme flooding will continue to be concentrated in regions where humans have built on floodplains or low-lying coastal regions. More extreme flooding must be expected, and for the towns and cities where flooding has already occurred, theirs will no longer be a ‘once in a lifetime’ risk but now far more frequent,” the United Nations said in 2020.