Flash floods have displaced more than 2,000 people and destroyed properties worth millions at the border town of Elegu, according to Amuru district authorities. The flash floods follow days of torrential rainfall that pounded the region and forced the Unyama River to burst its banks on Sunday evening.
Stephen Odong Latek, the Amuru Resident District Commissioner told Uganda Radio Network Monday that a greater section of the Eastern part of Elegu Town Council was submerged by the floods. He says more than 2,000 people had been affected by the flash flood and relocated from the area to safer zones by Monday morning.
According to Latek, the number of those affected by the flood could rise significantly since they were still conducting assessments to determine the extent of the damage. He says although water levels had started receding, the area remains unsafe and notes that with the rains still continuing, chances are more flooding will be witnessed.
“About 2,000 will be affected by the flooding and they have to move upwards towards Bibia to look for better areas for settlement or to their relatives to allow them to temporarily shelter,” says Latek. He however notes that the hygiene situation is worrying and notes that the possibility of outbreaks of waterborne diseases is high since many pit latrines have been submerged.
“As of now the situation that is worrying is hygiene, as you know when it floods, it goes into the Latrine, and inside the Latrine, it brings out everything onto the surface. For now, whether it (water) dries now or not, the hygiene question will remain a very disturbing one for a long time,” says Latek.
Latek says humanitarian agencies like the Red Cross and Lutheran Foundation have already responded to the emergency situation according to Latek. Elegu Border Town, located at the busy Uganda-South Sudan border, has been prone to flooding, over the years which has left trails of destruction of properties and death. Authorities in Amuru have however severally requested the government to fund the construction of an embankment to avert further flooding from river Unyama.
But Latek says up to date, the government hasn’t yet secured the needed funding to construct the embankment. “Government hasn’t yet secured the funding needed to complete works as designed, but projection by the government was to redirect the flow of the river so that when it’s about to flood, it moves in the direction of the Nile,” He said.
John Idra Kovuki, the LC III Chairperson of Elegu Town Council said Monday that local leaders were working along with humanitarian agencies to assess the extent of the damage caused by the floods. Kovuki warned locals still occupying lowlands to vacate the areas prone to floods to the higher areas for their safety adding that although water levels are receding, there is still a growing threat of flooding.
Current situation at Elegu Township . Flood sweeps through the town after a heavy down pour pic.twitter.com/BMceCZ0Bvn
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Richard Omony, a businessman at Elegu Town Council told Uganda Radio Network that traders in the area have heeded flood alerts adding that some had vacated risky areas to highlands. By the time of filing this story, some of the people affected by the floods had camped at the one-stop border post to take shelter.
Amuru District Local Government is currently seeking more than 160 billion Shillings to avert flooding in Elegu town.
The money is expected to be used for the embankment of River Unyama banks in a bid to stop the yearly flooding.
According to the Uganda National Meteorological Authority (UNMA) weather forecast report, near-normal rains are expected to up to late November this year in Amuru district.