El Niño damages more than 400 homes and kills child in Tanzania
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Mwananchi
Rains linked to El Niño have destroyed or damaged more than 400 houses in the districts of Bunda and Rorya, in Mara Region, and killed a child in Rorya. Regional governor Evans Mtambi urged residents in at-risk areas to seek shelter and said pupils should not be sent to school when there is danger, according to Mwananchi.
One child has died and more than 400 houses have been damaged in the districts of Bunda and Rorya, in Tanzania’s Mara Region, following rains linked to El Niño, regional governor Brigadier General Evans Mtambi announced on Saturday, 31 October. He was speaking at a funeral in Musoma.
Evans Mtambi urged residents to leave flood-prone areas and other dangerous locations immediately. He also asked families not to send pupils to school when signs of danger were observed, and urged the public to take weather forecasts seriously, according to the Mwananchi newspaper.
In Bunda, more than 360 houses had already been affected by rain and winds on 21 and 22 October, according to district commissioner Halfan Haule. Fifty of them were completely destroyed and some families had found shelter with relatives, while the government distributed food to those affected.
Regional authorities are also encouraging farming to continue with crops suited to heavy rainfall, in order to safeguard food security and farmers’ incomes, Mwananchi reports. This new assessment follows the destruction of 30 houses in Bunda, announced on 23 October, and the damage caused by hailstorms in Kigoma, reported on 31 October.
