Heavy floodings displace thousands from their homes in Burundi

In Burundi, heavy rains has displaced thousands of people from their homes. The Gatumba, Mutimbuzi region located 5km from Bujumbura province has experience heavy floods since Monday, January 11 after Rusizi River, a tributary of Lake Tanganyika, overflowed causing havoc. The victims are now asking for protection.

"We are asking the government or other benefactors to build dikes to protect the Rusizi River from our flood city," one victim said.

For environmental experts, in addition to the effects of climate change, this situation is aggravated by poor land planning.

"These floods are caused by climate change. But there is another aggravating factor which is land planning, " Jean-Marie Sabushimike, expert in risk prevention and disaster management told Africanews.

The National Platform for Risk Prevention and Disaster Management has recommended that people should be relocated from this border area of the DRC.

This is the second time that this region has been affected by flooding in less than a year. In May 2020, floods displaced more than 27 thousand people. Majority of them still live in the displaced sites.