The Kamuli district disaster committee is seeking emergency relief supplies after at least 3,000 people were affected by floods and hailstones in the Sub-counties of Magogo, Kisozi, Nawanyago, Namasagali and Kagumba.
The worst-hit Sub-counties are Namasagali and Kagumba, where a total of 1,000 people from 436 households have been displaced after 30 houses crumbled and over 66 others got submerged by floods.
The catastrophe has forced residents to seek sanctuary in schools and churches, where they face imminent hunger, water-related diseases, and Gender Based Violence (GBV).
The Kamuli district disaster committee says all the affected zones, which lie along the River Nile banks, include; Malugulya, Kasimwe, and Bugumbya, all in Namasagali Sub-county, whose residents now reside at Malugulya Primary School and Malugulya Catholic and Anglican Churches.
Other residents, he says reside in Buwaiswa and Bukalapya Villages in Kibuye Parish, and Kakooge and Busige Villages in Kiige Parish.
Mr Samuel Bakaki, the district environment officer and secretary of the district disaster committee, says they have written to the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), requesting for an urgent emergency relief supply in terms of food, shelter, beddings, mosquito nets among other relevant aid.
“We have hail storms-affected areas in Nawanyago, Magogo and Kisozi, where crops were destroyed affecting over 2,000 people, while floods have displaced over 1,000 people in Namasagali and Kagumba Sub-counties; so, we urgently need emergency relief for 3,000 people,” Mr Bakaki said last Friday.
He added that because of the reality of the climate change effect, there is a backflow of the river bank to the highly saturated places which can no longer hold any water and open up.
According to him, Nabigaga and Nalwekomba Swamps bring heavy flow of water to pour into River Nile and as the water levels increase and fill up at the end points of the wetland, it flows back to the lowlands, causing flooding.
The Kamuli Resident District Commissioner (RDC), Ms Rose Birungi, who visited the affected areas, described the catastrophe as “a security threat in all aspects” and fertile ground for domestic and GBV, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and waterborne diseases.
She said: “As government, we need collective efforts to harness disaster relief resources and this is where we are calling upon the OPM and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) working in Namasagali and Kagumba Sub-counties to come in; otherwise, the situation borders on insecurity, while the children, too, are at high risk.”
The Malugulya Village LC1 Chairman, Twaha Majwega, said socio-economic activities have been disorganised by the floods which have cut off access roads, reduced farming activity and displaced many, making famine a likely danger next year.
Majwega said the worst-hit victim is 92-year-old bedridden Mary Nabirye, who remains abandoned in her water-logged, grass thatched hut which is on the brink of collapsing.
