THE prime minister's office, which coordinates disaster risk management, is ready to assist communities in the Ohangwena region that are adversely affected by flooding, said the executive director I-Ben Nashandi.
Nashandi told Desert Radio yesterday that they are monitoring the situation in the northern regions, since the floodwaters reached Namibia from southern Angola last Friday.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform noted that the flood was triggered by heavy rains in the Ondjiva and Namacunde areas of Angola.
"At the moment, our priority is to make sure that we save lives. We have teams on the ground. Our defence force is on the ground and also the regional governor, monitoring and giving guidance to the community on how they should behave given the circumstances," Nashandi said.
With floodwater expected to rise, Nashandi said the Ohangwena regional disaster risk management committee is ready to provide emergency relief to the affected communities.
"We have a structure in place, which is the regional disaster risk management committee. They are continuously monitoring the situation and if the situation warrants, we are ready to ensure that facilities are provided to move people either to high ground or provide them with relief where they are," he said.
"The relief will come in many forms, like people might be airlifted and we are ready to do that. And, people might need to be relocated to high ground. We have temporary facilities that are ready to be set up at a site that will be identified by the regional disaster management committee."
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Agriculture, water and land reform executive director Ndiyakupi Nghituwamata on Monday noted that floodwater was concentrated in areas west of Oshikango.
She said so far the magnitude and speed of the floodwater does not pose significant emergency risk.
"However, the flooding situation may change if substantial rainfall continues to fall in the Cuvelai catchment area both in Angola and Namibia. Community members and schoolchildren in the flood-prone areas should take the necessary preventive measures and are advised to use alternative routes when crossing flooded areas," Nghituwamata said.
The deputy executive director in the ministry of education, arts and culture, Eda Bohn, said floodwaters have affected teaching and learning at seven schools in Ohangwena.
"Some of them are badly affected. We are in contact with the regional directorate. They do have a disaster response WhatsApp group where they inform each other continuously. And, we would not want children to be exposed to any danger such as floodwaters. So, they were supposed to rather stay at home," Bohn told Desert Radio yesterday.
Bohn said more schools are expected to be affected in other regions as the water continues flowing down southwards, towards the Etosha pan.
The Cuvelai basin is a drainage system that flows from highlands in southern Angola to the Etosha pan in Namibia.
The basin, which runs across Ohangwena, Oshana, Omusati and Oshikoto, consists of hundreds of ephemeral water courses called oshanas prone to flooding during the rainy season.
