No fewer than 11 people have been killed as a result of heavy rains that have pounded Angolan capital Luanda since Tuesday.
Luanda’s Civil Protection and Firemen Services spokesman Faustino Minguês, told the media on Thursday that 6,000 houses had been flooded, rendering hundreds of families homeless.
Many of the victims died as a result of homes collapsing, others were swept away by floods while some were electrocuted by falling power cables. Several people have also been reported missing.
The heavy rains also flooded two schools, seven hospitals and one church at Cazenga, Cacuaco and Viana municipalities.
Southern Africa has since the beginning of the year experienced a heavy seasonal rainfall, Africa Review said.
Fatalities arising from the heavy downpour have been reported in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Madagascar.
Located to the west on Angola’s Atlantic Ocean coast, Luanda is the country’s largest port and is ranked the 22nd filthiest in the world.
During the rainy season, the streets of Luanda become flooded, forming stinking, black rivers that carry the decaying waste into stagnant ponds.
Studies from several agencies, including Unicef and Oxfam, suggest that a large portion of the Luanda population lives in settlements called musseques, built on hardened waste. They do not have access to clean water.
The Luanda metropolis population is estimated at 6.5 million people.
Though ranked among the world’s most expensive cities, Luanda has for years been a chaotic urban mess.
The overwhelming majority of Luanda residents live in squalid shantytowns with no sanitation or electricity.
Source – Reuters
