Stem flooding chaos - Daily Nation

The ongoing rains continue to wreak havoc across the country with deaths and destruction of homes and infrastructure, including roads and bridges.

The sad tale of the deadly consequences of the unusually heavy rains since the last quarter of last year is persisting.

At the weekend, five people died and hundreds were displaced by torrential rains in various places.

January is usually the hottest month but, this time around, it has been quite wet. The Meteorological Department had warned well in advance that the downpours would continue.

Rain, traditionally considered a blessing, has become a curse.

By the end of last year, more than 100 people had been killed in floods and landslides and hundreds of thousands displaced.

Pictures of submerged sections of roads, flooded rivers, damaged bridges and swamped homes, schools and trading centres do not augur well for the country.

These images are proof of a damning helplessness in dealing with natural phenomena. There is a need to build the capacity to mitigate the consequences of natural occurrences.

It’s quite disappointing that there is an elaborate policy and know-how on what needs to be done, but it’s not happening.

The bulk of the storm water just flows to waste, simply because the capacity to dam it for use in times of scarcity is sorely lacking.

There has been talk about rainwater harvesting by homesteads and institutions, which has just never taken off.

The country should, by now, have a series of dams to collect the water, but we have only seen a few privately owned ones that are so poorly built that they also pose a grave threat to the people.

Sadly, when the rain subsides, drought will set in and extend the people’s misery. This vicious cycle of ineptitude must be broken.