BUJUMBURA October 17th (ABP) – The torrential rain that has hit the country in recent days have caused several human and material damages, and left several households in desolation.
In Makamba province, the rain mixed with violent winds which fell on the morning of Sunday, October 15, 2023, at the Kiyange village and zone in Kibago commune, Makamba province left 4 dead, 15 injured and 100 people homeless, a check on the site by ABP has revealed.
4 houses were destroyed, 10 partially destroyed, while 31 were demolished. Furthermore, during these bad weather, 8 classrooms and three churches of Pentecost, EUSEBU and Assemblies of God, were destroyed. There are also 14 shops and a home at the Kiyange communal high school which have been defaced, as well as the hospital room at the Kiyange Health Center. There are also reports of 21 hectares of damaged banana and cassava fields.
In Bururi province, torrential rain which fell midday on Sunday October 15, 2023, in Bururi and Rutovu communes caused enormous damage. In Bururi commune on Gisanze Hill, two classrooms and a temple of the Church of Pentecost were destroyed. On Karwa Hill in the Bamba zone, a classroom at the Karwa Communal high school was blown away by the wind. On Kavumvu village, at Kavumvu Communal High School, a classroom was demolished. School materials, consisting of notebooks and teachers’ manuals, were damaged. In this commune of Bururi, the municipal administration reported seven houses destroyed. In the commune of Rutovu, the communal administrator, Josette Ndayikeza, reported a temple of the Church of Pentecost and three houses destroyed on Muhweza village.
The governor of Bururi province, Col Léonidas Bandenzamaso, advised school principals to plant trees around establishments to slow down the speed of the wind.
In Bujumbura province, strong floods of the Gasenyi River have damaged the constructions that were being built on this river downstream, not far from the office of the Presidency of the Republic, according to the Burundian Office of the Urban Planning, Housing and Construction, OBUHA.
According to Ir Rénovat Hatungimana, head of the river development project, considerable losses are to be deplored, specifying that concrete made using 300 bags of cement was carried away by rainwater, formwork, reinforcement and boards were degraded over a section of at least 500 m long. According to him, this happened following the delay in the execution of the works; due to the lack of diaulite gravel (crushed black stone gravel). “Since August, when work began at this location with a slope, we expected to have exceeded it but in vain,” he stressed. He pointed out that this gravel may be available but OBUHA is faced with the refusal of authorization to extract stones from rivers.
The surrounding population fears the damage that this still unprotected river could cause during this rainy season.
In Cibitoke province, two people died of lightning and three others injured, during rain which fell from October 12 to 13, 2023, on Nyempundu village, Mugina commune, in Cibitoke province. Three houses were also destroyed, as well as the Catholic Church in Rukombe. The victims ask for assistance in these difficult times.