Following torrential rains, fresh floods have started hitting Kasese destroying roads
April 20, 2016 - EARTH - The following list constitutes the latest reports of high tides,
heavy rainfall, flash floods, widespread flooding, sea level rise and
catastrophic storms.
At least 1,000 displaced following floods in Uganda
Many people in parts of Western and Southern Uganda faced severe flood
conditions as a result of a result of heavy rainfall that began on 13
April 2016. Further heavy rainfall on 17 April has hit flood-affected areas in the west, in particular Kasese, once again.
Kampala
In Kampala and its suburbs, houses were inundated by flood
waters forcing people to evacuate to higher grounds for safety. Some of
the buildings were reported to have collapsed. Flooding rendered roads
impassable. According to the Uganda Radio Network (URN), floods on Wednesday, 13 April, affected several suburbs including Kyebando, Bwaise, Kamwokya, Mulago and Kalerwe. There were also some reports of flooded farmland and damaged crops.
Over the years Kampala and areas around Lake Victoria have experienced
severe floods. In September 2013 for example, the streets of numerous
suburbs were badly affected.
The locals of these suburbs believe these floods, which occur on a
regular basis, are very much man made and mostly caused by building and
development on flood plains and swamp areas. Flooding like this occurs
on a regular basis in Kampala - mostly in the suburbs - during the
rainy season. Two people died in floods in September 2011. Further
floods occurred in November that year, as discussed in this report from
Uganda's New Vision.
Kasese, Western Region
WATCH: Heavy rains cause flooding all over Kampala.
In Kasese district, in the Western Region of Uganda,heavy
rainfall was recorded on Tuesday 12 April, 2016, causing the River
Mubuka to overflow and displacing more than 1000 people living in Kanamba and Kabaka parishes in Karusandara sub-county.
According to the ten day forecast issued by the IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre (ICPAC), heavy rainfall
between 12 April 21 April is expected to affect the lake Victoria region.
IPAC forecast 12 to 21 April. Image: IPAC
The locals in these areas were aided by the Uganda Wild Life Authority
(UWA) to set up temporary camps to house them. Kasese district was also
hard hit by floods in 2013 and 2014. Reports
from residents indicate that there has been little effort made in
repairing flood damage and increasing resilience to future flood events.
Further heavy rainfall was recorded in Kasese over the last 24
hours, resulting in more flooding which has destroyed roads, bridges,
classrooms and farms in various parts of the district, according to local media.
Russia deploys Su-34 aircraft to bomb ice jam in flooded territories
Russian military aviation has been deployed to the Vologda region, after
powerful snowmelt floods hit vast territories across the country.
Local authorities initiated efforts to destroy a 40-km ice jam on the
Sukhona river near Veliky Ustyug, in the Vologda region. As Monday's
demolition work didn't bring the expected result, bombing missions from
the air are being implemented.
Several Russian Su-34 bomber aircraft launched airstrikes on the border
area between the Archangelsk and Vologda regions. These modern
multipurpose planes were most recently bombing Daesh positions in Syria.
The task isn't easy. The Vologda region is in the grip of the
worst flooding in 20 years, and the consequences have required a special
operation by the military and emergency response groups.
WATCH: Flooding disaster in Russia.
Locals have been watching and filming the "military operation" from a distance.
Thousands of people in Russia have been affected by heavy spring floods,
and many have been forced to flee their homes. Emergency response
workers continue to evacuate residents of flooded cities and villages,
also providing those who can stay with necessary provisions.
According to the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations, the flood
area doubled in a single day, and the rising waters have affected over
100 cities.
April 1, 2016 - EARTH - Thirteen people were killed and 19 others injured by lightning in eight districts in Bangladesh yesterday and the day before. Meanwhile, lightning bolt hit house in Uganda killing two children.
Lightning strikes kill 13 in 8 districts of Bangladesh over 2 days
Thirteen people were killed and 19 others injured by lightning in eight districts yesterday and the day before.
In Comilla, two brick kiln workers were killed and 17 others injured as a thunderbolt hit them at Bakhornagar village in Muradnagar upazila yesterday afternoon.
The deceased are Al-Amin, 30, son of Bashir Miah, and Mohammad Ali, 25, son of Dilu Miah of Majlispur area in Brahmanbaria Sadar upazila.
The incident took place when they were working at the brick kiln, reports UNB.
In Narayanganj, lightning killed two teenage boys and injured a young man at Char Kishoreganj Mollarpara in Sonargaon upazila.
The deceased were identified as Anik, 15, and Ferdous, 17, residents of the area.
In Netrakona, an elderly man was killed as he was struck by a thunderbolt at Noapara village of Sadar upazila in the evening.
The deceased was identified as Abdul Khaleque, 50, of the village.
In Brahmanbaria, the muazzim of Noahati Mosque at Shilail village of Sadar upazila was killed by a lightning strike around 2:00pm.
In Faridpur, a schoolboy, Md Hasan Mollah, 16, son of Javed Mollah, was struck by lightning at Khrishanagar village of Sadar upazila at noon. He died instantly.
In Bagerhat, two day-labourers were killed and another was injured as thunderbolts hit them at Kamla village in Morelganj upazila yesterday noon, reports our correspondent.
The deceased are Kalipad Majumder, 50, son of Binod Majumder of Kumarkhali village, and Rafiqul Islam, 25, son of Abdul Aziz of Ghorgota village.
In Munshiganj, two boys were killed by lightning at Mollahpara in Char Kishoreganj under the district at noon.
The deceased are Anik, 15, and Ferdous, 17, of the area, reports our correspondent.
In Mymensingh, two people were killed in lighting in the district on Wednesday, reports our correspondent.
The victims are Nurul Islam, 45, son of late Hanif Mandol of Koyerchala village in Phulbaria upazila, and Lutfa Akhtar, 28, wife of Rukon Uddin of Ullahpara village in Nandail upazila. - Daily Star.
Lightning bolt hits house in Uganda, 2 children die
The incident occurred in Mbogo zone, Kikyusa sub-county in Luweero
district, when Simon Katumba's house caught fire that killed Emelda
Nakafeero, 3 and Kelvis Kiyimba, 2.
Shock gripped residents of Kikyusa town in Bamunanika when lightning
struck a shop where there were 30 jerry cans of petrol inside sparking
off a fire that killed two children and seriously injured their mother.
The Savannah Regional police spokesperson Lammeck Kigozi on Thursday
identified the two dead children as: Melda Nakafeero a 3-year-old female
years and Kevin Kiyimba a male aged two years.
Their mother Jennet Namugaya (24) was rushed to Mulago hospital after she sustained severe burns on her body.
Police fire fighters, who were deployed from the Savannah regional
Police headquarters in Luweero town to stop the fire, suffered the wrath
of residents who pelted with stones, furious at them for delaying to
react.
They however managed to stop the fire from spreading to neighboring buildings.
It is the third time in a period of five years, that a similar catastrophe is hitting the area.
In July 2011, a herdsman Murekambanzi Karibwami a resident of Nakabiito
village in Kikyusa lost seven high breed cows after lightning struck his
kraal.
Earlier in the same month, lightning had struck a man and his dog in Kikyusa town, killing the dog instantly. The man survived.
Kigozi warned residents against risky businesses like selling petrol in
jerry cans which he said exposed families to fire accidents. - New Vision 30.
A woman dressed
all in black and holding what is thought to be a child's severed head
has been arrested near a metro station in Moscow.
February 29, 2016 - HUMANITY - The following stories are clear evidence that people are losing their moral values and codes, devolving and resorting to violence, when by any measure of practical utility, non-violent means would be more effective and humane.
Woman in black holding severed child's head near Moscow metro station detained
A woman dressed all in black and holding what is thought to be a child’s severed head has been arrested near a metro station in Moscow. She was shouting, “I am a terrorist,” and reportedly threatened to blow herself up.
According to LifeNews, the victim was a girl, identified as Nastya M. After the murder, the female suspect went to a metro station, where she was stopped by a local police officer. She immediately took the severed child’s head from her bag and started shouting that she had killed the child. The suspect is currently being detained by police authorities, Russian media reported.
“The end of the world is coming in a second…I’m your death,” the woman is heard shouting in the video released online. “I hate democracy. I’m a terrorist.”
She is heard shouting that she has been “cursed” and “destroyed” “so many times.”
“I'm your suicide bomber… I'm going to die in a second…The end of the world…,” she shouted.
The woman appeared near Oktyabrskoye Pole metro station in northwest Moscow.
Eyewitness Artur Manzhesov told RT he couldn’t believe that the decapitated child’s head being carried by the woman was real.
“I saw her coming out with the head in her hands. I thought, wow, it must be a replica,” he said.
The man says he heard the perpetrator shouting: “Allahu Akbar… The Russians will be hanged like this. The Russians will be slaughtered.”
The woman was dressed in black “like Muslims,” but her face was open, Manzhesov recalled.
“I thought she just went mad… When I saw the head I started shaking… I saw the child’s face and blood coming from it. It was very scary,” he said.
Russia’s Investigative Committee later released a statement that rescuers have found a body of a three or four-year-old child after extinguishing a fire in a Moscow apartment block. A preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect is a children’s nanny in her late 30s, who is a citizen of a “Central Asian country.”
WATCH: GRAPHIC - Woman waves child's head in Moscow.
The suspect waited until the child’s parents left the apartment with an older child, then killed the child and set the apartment on fire, the Investigative Committee said.
The mother of the murdered child was taken to hospital in unconscious after she learned the news, Russia’s Zvezda TV channel reported.
Earlier on Monday, reports emerged that police had found a child’s headless body while extinguishing a fire at a Moscow apartment block. The child was about three or four years old, Interfax reported, citing sources.
The woman, identified by LifeNews as Gulchekhra Bobokulova from Uzbekistan, committed the murder because of her husband’s betrayal. According to LifeNews sources, she failed to explain how the child was connected to her husband. The woman was reportedly drugged, a source in police authorities told Interfax.
People in shops near the Oktyabrskoye Pole metro station have been evacuated, TASS reported, adding that police have sealed some exits from the station.
Indian accountant drugs and kills 14 family members, then commits suicide
Indian man has wiped out his entire family, including seven children, before hanging himself. Police sources report that the assailant added a sedative to the meals, so the drugged victims would not wake up during the bloodshed.
Hasnin Anwar Warekar, 35, has brutally murdered 14 of his relatives in the Indian city of Thane, 20 miles from Mumbai, police report. The carnage is believed to have taken place overnight Sunday, when all the residents of a single-story house were asleep after a family party.
“Prima facie evidence suggests that the accused bolted all the doors of the house and murdered his family while they were asleep with a knife that we found near his body. The accused then hung himself after killing his family", said Ashutosh Dumbare, spokesman for Thane police, as cited by the Indian Express.
The attacker reportedly first killed his wife and two daughters who were sleeping on the first floor and then butchered his own parents and sisters on the ground floor.
Man killed 14 members of his family in Thane, later committed suicide (In pic: sole survivor admitted in hospital) pic.twitter.com/TAq0ExnzgF
His younger sister Subia Bharmar, 21, managed to escape the family’s gruesome fate. She survived her brother`s first attack which left her with cut upper throat and cried for help. Luckily for her, relatives residing nearby heard her shouting and rushed to help.
"One of the sisters was shouting 'Please save me.' We went there and tried to break the door but she said don't come inside as he has a knife and he might kill you too. So we ran and called the police for help," said one of the witnesses, according to IBN live news site.
The only survivor, who has been treated in a local Thane hospital for sustained injuries, has already spoken to police, but her statement shed little light on the motives of the murderer.
“As of now, she is in a shock. It is quite possible that this is an internal family matter, but it is difficult to confirm anything at this point," said Dumbare, as cited by IBN live.
“The exact cause that triggered her brother to kill her family and himself is still unclear. Our investigation is still under way,” the spokesman said.
"It is a very sad incident. Nobody knows why he killed the members but the man was a very nice guy,” commented one of the locals on the deadly incident, pointing out that the suspect “had no quarrel or fight ever."
Warekar used to work as a chartered accountant for a private company, according to police, as reported by the Indian Express. The initial probe into the case hasn`t indicated that any conflicts within the family could have triggered the killings.
However, it has been speculated in the Indian media that an argument over property issues could have led to the massacre.
‘Ax-wielding’ Palestinian in brutal attack on Israeli guard
A Palestinian has brutally attacked an Israeli security guard in a shopping mall with something that resembled an ax, a CCTV video shows. The assailant, who was a mall employee, is seen striking the father of four multiple times near an elevator.
The incident took place in Maale Adumim, an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, 7km from Jerusalem.
The suspect, later identified as 21-year-old Abu Hammad, approached the guard, Tzvika Cohen, and reportedly asked him to open the elevator door. Cohen wasn’t suspecting the attack as he knew Hammad and the pair worked together at the mall, Channel 2 reported.
Hammad attacked the guard without warning, striking him several times with a metal object that resembles an ax, as seen in security camera footage which is circulating online.
The guard is currently in serious condition at the Hadassah-University Medical Center on Mount Scopus, northern Jerusalem.Two days after the incident the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), police and Israel Defense Forces (IDF) managed to find Hammad, who is a resident of the Palestinian village of Eizariya, located near Maale Adumim.
Hammad confirmed that he “implicated himself into a terrorist attack,” the Shin Bet said, as reported by the Jerusalem Post.
Following the attack, the Israeli government moved to ban all Palestinians from Maale Adumim until Thursday, a spokesman for the settlement said, as cited by AFP. He added that about 500 Palestinian laborers are affected by the ban.
A new wave of violence between long-standing opponents Israel and Palestine erupted in October when Israel attempted to restrict access of Palestinian men to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Old City area of Jerusalem.
Since then, Israeli security forces have killed at least 168 Palestinians, 111 of whom allegedly initiated attacks. Palestinian assailants have killed 28 Israelis, as well as one US citizen.
6 cases of child 'good luck' sacrifice reported in run-up to Uganda elections
Several children were murdered and mutilated as ‘good luck’
sacrifices in the run-up to the recent Ugandan elections, a charity has
announced. It stated that many locals believe such acts bring wealth and
power.
Six cases of mutilation and murder were reported in the lead-up to the elections, Shelin Kasozi of Kyampisi Childcare Ministries (KCM), a charity that cares for survivors of attempted child sacrifice, told Reuters.
"Child sacrifice cases are common during election time as some people believe blood sacrifices will bring wealth and power," Kasozi said.
She said the cases were reported from October to February in the districts of Ssembabule, Mukono, Buikwe and Mubende, all located in central Uganda.
Moses Binoga, coordinator of the anti-trafficking task force at the Ugandan Interior Ministry, acknowledged that children had been reported missing during the election period, but could not confirm KCM's reports. He said investigations are ongoing.
He did, however, acknowledge that seven child and six adult sacrifice cases were reported in Uganda in 2015, compared to nine child and four adult cases in 2014.
Referring to the past cases, Binoga said the mutilated bodies of children and adults had been found, some of whom had their hearts or livers ripped out. In two cases reported last year, the victims' heads were missing, he said.
In 2012, 82-year-old grandmother Hanifa Namuyanja was sentenced to 15 years in jail for taking part in the sacrifice of her granddaughter Shamim Nalwoga. The child was found with her tongue and eyes cut out and genitals mutilated.
The United Nations said last year that attacks on albino people in Africa were on the rise, linked to a growing demand from political hopefuls seeking body parts retrieved in black magic.
The February 18 election saw President Yoweri Museveni extend his 30-year rule, in a vote slammed by the US and the European Union. Ugandans also took part in municipal and parliamentary elections.
Referred to as Uganda's 'President for Life’, Museveni was described in a 2001 UN report as one of the “godfathers of the illegal exploitation of natural resources and the continuation of the conflict in the DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo).”
- RT News.
10 schoolchildren stabbed in China; assailant kills himself
A man in southern China stabbed 10 schoolchildren before killing himself Monday morning, state-run media reported.
All of the children survived and were hospitalized, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The incident took place in Haikou, the capital city of the southern island province of Hainan.
An initial investigation suggested that attacker was upset that his daughter was not allowed to attend the school after failing to complete a summer homework assignment, Xinhua said.
Police said that attacker was driven to commit the attack by "doomsday" rumors, Xinhua said at the time. Authorities also said Min testified he was inspired by TV reports about a kindergarten killing in 2010. - CNN.
November 11, 2014 - EARTH - The following list constitutes the latest reports of high tides, heavy
rainfall, flash floods, widespread flooding, sea level rise and
catastrophic storms courtesy of Floodlist.
16,000 Displaced in Uganda after River Semliki Overflows
Floods in Ntoroko, Uganda, after the River Semliki burst its banks. Photo: UNICEF
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) announced on Thursday 06
November 2014 that at least 16,000 people have been displaced by recent
floods in Uganda. Around half of the displaced are thought to be
children, according to UNICEF Uganda.
The floods occurred in the
western Ugandan district of Ntoroko after the River Semliki burst its
banks due to heavy rains. The areas worst affected are Bweramule sub
county, Butungama sub county, Rwebisengo sub country and Rwebisengo
town.
The river first overflowed around 01 November 2014.
Initially around 500 people were displaced, but the affected area has
since widened. Roads are submerged and many homes in the area have been
damaged. Crops and livestock has also been badly affected.
The Ugandan newspaper The Monitor says that the area is frequently under water at this time of year.:
Floods
are a chronic problem in Ntotoko which plague the district every rainy
season, displacing hundreds of people and leaving a trail destruction.
The also point to human activities being responsible for the regular flooding of the River Semliki
Environment
experts say overgrazing, and other alterations to the watershed have
caused bank erosion and frequent changes to the course of River Semliki.
Aid and Relief
The
Ugandan government have delivered some food aid for the victims after
Vice President Edward Ssekandi visited Ntoroko last week.
UNICEF
has prepositioned emergency medical supplies including 40,000 water
purification tablets to health centres within the affected. However
there is still need for additional support and relief items. UNICEF said “Affected population still need more items like food, non-food items, mosquito nets, soap, tents and emergency medicines.”
Floods Worsen in Somalia Leaving 21,000 Homeless
According
to African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM), the total number of
people displaced by the recent flooding in Somalia has now risen to
21,000.
Further
heavy rainfall over the last 2 weeks has forced thousands more to leave
their homes for higher ground. The affected families have settled in
temporary shelters at a camp close to the AMISOM base camp, North
Eastern Beletweyne.
Shabelle River floods in Beledweyne, Hiran, Somalia, October 2014. Photo: Abdikarim Hussein / twitter
Make shift houses in Internal Displaced Camp outside of Belet Weyne
Capital of Hiran Region, Somalia on November 05, 2014 AU/UN IST / Photo
Ahmed Qeys
Make shift houses in Internal Displaced Camp outside of Belet Weyne
Capital of Hiran Region, Somalia on November 05, 2014 AU/UN IST / Photo
Ahmed Qeys
Major Ali Hussein, an AMISON spokesman said
“We
are looking at how we can evacuate them or offer medication, but they
need much more than that. On the side of the food and so on, they are
being provided with clean water by the use of water tankers but they
need food and medicines urgently. There is possibility of water borne
diseases outbreak, and they don’t have sanitation facilities”
Aid
agencies have warned that the floods are likely to worsen the already
fragile food security situation, with at least 1 million people in
urgent need of humanitarian assistance across Somalia. A statement by
the Food Agriculture Organization released last week indicates that the
floods have left large areas with crops submerged, further exposing the
population to food insecurity.
High Tide Floods in Ca Mau Province, Vietnam
Some
areas of Ca Mau Province in southern Vietnam are under 50cm (20 inches)
of water after unusually high tides over the past few days.
The
high tide season along this coastline usually runs from December to
March. The floods over the last few days have caught a few buy surprise.
The average water level is 30 cm higher than in previous years,
officials say.
VNS are reporting that the entire coastline of the
province – all 252 km (156 miles) of it – has been been flooded.
Furthermore, areas inland have also seen some flooding, including Nam
Can Town in Nam Can District. More than 2,000 hectares of aquaculture
farms and 1,000 hectares of crops and orchards have been damaged by the
tides. Saline intrusion has long been of major concern to local
industries such as shrimp and rice farming. VNS
say that local officials see the recent high tides as part of the
effects of rising sea levels and climate change. As a response, the
province is aiming to build a sea dyke along its eastern coastline, and
also repair and make improvements to the existing western sea dyke.
Map:
Image: Google Maps.
Federal Aid for Nevada and Arizona after September 2014 Floods
FEMA
announced on 06 November 2014 that federal disaster aid has been made
available to the states of Nevada and Arizona to supplement state,
tribal, and local recovery efforts in the area affected by severe storms
and flooding that hit parts of the two states between 07 and 09 September 2014.
The
storm and flooding at the time was said to be caused by the remnants of
former Hurricane Norbert that hit parts of Mexico in the previous days.
Heavy rain and flash flooding was also seen in parts of southern
California.
Nevada
In Nevada the worst hit area was Moapa, which is about 70 km / 45 miles north east of Las Vegas, where 118 mm (4.67 inches) of rain fell on Monday 08 September 2014 – an extreme amount of rain in this desert area. Flood water was so high that vehicles floated along Interstate 15. Some flooding was also seen in the Las Vegas area.
Moapa after the floods in September 2014. Photo: Rlan Levi / Twitter
Arizona
Phoenix
was one of the worst affected areas. Around 84 mm (3.3 inches) of rain
fell in 24 hours between 07 and 08 September 2014. This beats the
previous high of 74 mm (2.91 inches), set in 1933, and was more than the
combined total normally seen in the 3 months of July, August, and
September.
A woman died after her car became submerged in 10 feet
of flood water in a residential area in east Tucson. Rescue teams
couldn’t reach the victim in time.
A second victim drowned in her
car after it was caught in flash floods in Oracle Junction, north of
Tucson. A second passenger, the victim’s husband, managed to escape from
the vehicle and survived.
Floods in Arizona, September 2014. Photo: Ld Keith / Twitter
In their announcement on the Nevada flood aid, FEMA said:
The
President’s action makes federal funding available to state and
eligible tribal and local governments and certain private nonprofit
organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair
or replacement of facilities damaged by severe storms and flooding on
the Moapa Band of Paiutes Reservation. Federal funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures statewide.
June 22, 2014 - AFRICA - The survival of Africa's
elephants is under threat, with estimates suggesting more than 20,000
were killed in 2013, a report says.
Elephant conservationists say demand for ivory remains high
The office of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) said poaching levels were far above the elephant birth rate.
However, the report said poaching numbers had dropped slightly compared to the previous two years.
Transnational organised crime appeared to be involved in the trade, it added.
Cites, which is based in Geneva, is responsible for regulating the international trade in more than 35,000 species of plants and animals.
China has started to destroy seized ivory in public
There are a number of interesting signals in these latest figures, perhaps indicating that the tougher line being taken by Cites is bearing fruit.
For the first time, more large-scale consignments of ivory have been seized in Africa rather than in Asia.
This is down to better policing in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and perhaps a slight downturn in demand from the key markets such as China, which carried out the first public destruction of ivory earlier this year.
There is also the rise in demand in China for legal mammoth ivory that is mainly exported from Russia, which may also indicate a growing awareness of the connection to elephants and a willingness to look at alternatives.
While these may be positive indicators, the report highlights continuing bad news.
The slaughter of elephants is rising in countries like the Central African Republic, where local populations remain on the verge of extinction.
'Large seizures'
"Africa's elephants continue to face an immediate threat to their survival from high levels of poaching for their ivory," said Cites Secretary-General John E Scanlon.
The report also documented an increase in the number of large seizures of ivory - of shipments over 500kg (1,100 pounds), in 2013.
The report says elephants could face extinction if the current rate of poaching continues
For the first time, there were more such seizures in Africa than Asia, with Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda accounting for 80% of the seizures, the report said.
"Large-scale ivory seizures are indicative of transnational organised crime being involved in the illicit ivory trade," a Cites press release said.
While elephant conservationists do believe that increased ivory confiscation is a sign that law enforcement is improving, they also point out that demand for ivory remains very high, says the BBC's Imogen Foulkes in Geneva.
Conservationists say that even in some of the monitored elephant populations, poaching is actually increasing, our correspondent adds.
The Cites poaching estimates were based on data from 51 sites across Africa, which accounted for 30-40% of the continent's elephant population.
Figures from those site were extended to estimate the total numbers killed in Africa. - BBC.
Poachers Kill One Of The World's Largest Elephants In Kenya
Satao's enormous tusks classed him among the largest elephants left alive in the world
Photo: RICHARD MOLLER/TSAVO TRUST
One of Africa’s last 'great tuskers’, elephants with ivory weighing over 100lbs, has been poisoned to death by poachers in Kenya after years of adapting his behaviour to hide himself from humans.
The bull, named Satao and likely born in the late 1960s, succumbed to wounds from poison darts in a remote corner of Tsavo National Park where he had migrated to find fresh water after recent storms.
His carcass yesterday lay with its face and great tusks hacked off, four legs splayed where he fell with his last breath, left only for the vultures and the scavengers.
Conservationists told how he moved from bush to bush always keeping his ivory hidden amongst the foliage.
“I’m convinced he did that to hide his tusks from humans, he had an awareness that they were a danger to him,” said Mark Deeble, a British documentary filmmaker who has spent long periods of time filming Satao.
The elephant’s killing is the latest in a massive surge of poaching of the mammals for their ivory across Africa.
Richard Moller, of The Tsavo Trust, who had been monitoring Satao for several months confirmed that the elephant found dead on May 30 was indeed Satao, whom he called “an icon”.
“There is no doubt that Satao is dead, killed by an ivory poacher’s poisoned arrow to feed the seemingly insatiable demand for ivory in far off countries,” Mr Moller said.
“A great life lost so that someone far away can have a trinket on their mantelpiece.”
A soaring demand for ivory in a number of Asian nations has seen poaching reach levels that were last seen in the 1980s before the ivory trade was banned.
“The loss of such an iconic elephant is the most visible and heart-rending tip of this iceberg, this tragedy that is unfolding across the continent,” added Frank Pope of Save The Elephants in Nairobi.
The street value of elephant ivory is now greater than gold, running to tens of thousands of pounds per tusk. Organised criminals are increasingly running poaching gangs and networks, officials have said.
More than 20,000 African elephants were slaughtered in 2013, according to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) has documented the killing of 97 elephants so far this year, but experts dispute the official figures.
Dr Paula Kahumbu, who leads the Hands Off Our Elephants campaign, wrote that – based on the reports she has seen – “elephant poaching in Kenya is at least 10 times the official figures”.
In March this year, renowned conservationist Richard Leakey described poaching in Kenya as a “national disaster” and that poachers were operating with “outrageous impunity”.
“They could not operate with the impunity we are seeing if you did not have some form of protection from law enforcement agencies,” he said, likening the crisis to the mass poaching of the late 1980s.
Mr Leakey disputes official statistics that claim that the number of elephants that have been killed has declined. KWS recorded that 302 elephants were poached in 2013 down from 384 the previous year, of a total estimated population of 38,000 in Kenya.
Earlier this month, police seized more than 200 elephant tusks in a warehouse in the port city of Mombasa, weighing over 4,400lb.
Two men have been charged in connection with the haul.
Nelson Marwa, Mombasa county commissioner, said that the ivory find was linked to terrorism and drug barons in the city.
Mr Leakey cited the Indian Ocean port as a “staging post” for ivory smuggled from countries across the region.
Until recently, poachers in Kenya faced lenient sentences and few were successfully prosecuted.
A study by WildlifeDirect, a Nairobi-based charity that Dr Kahumbu heads, found that over the past five years just four per cent of those convicted of wildlife crimes in 18 of the country’s courts were sent to jail.
There is hope that tough new legislation passed earlier this year will lead to higher conviction rates and tougher sentences.
“Satao was probably one of half a dozen of Kenya’s great tuskers, possibly the largest,” said Mr Deeble, who flew over the elephant’s carcass on Friday.
“It’s a devastating situation. Kenya’s last great tuskers need presidential protection. If Satao’s death can galvanise the focus on what’s actually happening here in terms of poaching, then he won’t have died in vain.” - Telegraph.
March 26, 2014 - UGANDA - Rescue workers in Uganda
have so far recovered 107 bodies, including those of 57 children, after a
boat capsized on Saturday on Lake Albert, a government minister has
said.
Civilians have been involved in rescue operations.
The boat was taking refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo back to their home country when it capsized.
It had a capacity to carry only 80 passengers, but up to 250 people were on board, officials said.
Boat accidents are common in Uganda because of poor safety standards.
Boats are often overloaded and do not carry life jackets. 'Deeply shocked'
Uganda's Refugees Minister Hillary Onek said the police, the military's marine units and civilian fishing boats were all involved in rescue operations.
The 107 bodies recovered so far included 57 children, he said.
"The exact number of passengers on board has yet to be established," Mr Onek added.
On Monday, the UN high commissioner for refugees Antonio Guterres said he was deeply shocked by the disaster.
"My thoughts are with those who have lost dear ones, and the survivors," he said in a statement.
"I am grateful to the government and other actors who have mounted a rescue-and-recovery operation and are assisting the survivors.''
The boat was one of two which left on Saturday from Uganda's Hoima district on the eastern side of the lake, which lies on the border with DR Congo.
The boats were carrying refugees who had been living at a camp in Uganda, and had decided to return to eastern DR Congo of their own accord, the UNHCR said. - BBC.
August 11, 2013 - UGANDA - Landslides yesterday afternoon covered up five villages in parts of Bushiyi Sub-county in the eastern Bududa District, but there was no immediate report of deaths. The Sunday Monitor was told some 17 badly-injured survivors had been admitted to Bududa Hospital. One person was confirmed missing, the district chairman, Mr John Bosco Nambeshe, said.
Survivors of yesterday's landslides stare at the collapsed Namirumba Parish, Bududa District.
Photo by David Mafabi
A huge mass of soaked soil broke off from uphill, knocking down trees and toppling houses on its path in the third such blanket punishment by Mother Nature in the same district. In 2010, landslides flattened villages in Nametsi Parish, burying an estimated 350 residents. And where tragedy struck yesterday is close and adjacent to Nametsi.
Yesterday’s 3pm landslide which severely affected five villages in Namurumba, Bushiyi and Matuwa parishes, followed three days of heavy downpour and hailstorms that Uganda Red Cross Society secretary general, Mr Michael Wataka, said had earlier destroyed at least 10 homes and vast crop fields.
Preliminary estimates showed some 3,000 people were displaced and in immediate need of assistance, although up to 10, 000 of those living on the foot of Mt Elgon may eventually require relocation.
Many survivors were reported stranded on one of the high-risk villages cut-off by River Manafwa that burst its banks.
Government last evening said it was unable to evacuate the survivors using helicopters as requested by local leaders. Maj Gen Julius Oketta, the disaster and relief coordinator in the Office of the Prime Minister, advised them to move to safer areas uphill.
“I have told them [Bududa leaders] to tell survivors to move away from the river bank and relocate to higher areas that are safe,” the General said. “They should at this time forget about rescuing personal property in the house because they first need to keep alive.”
Survivors shift
Dozens of survivors were last evening spotted with mattresses and other salvaged household items on their heads, and trekking perilously to the safety of their relatives’ homes. Some hesitated, preferring they would rather die on their fertile ancestral land to which they profess a sturdy bond.
According to Wanjusi Kalisto, a local elder, it had been raining daily since Thursday but yesterday’s intensified downpour, which began falling around midday, combined with heavy hailstorm to wreak the nastiest havoc.
Vast gardens of coffee, banana and maize remained blanketed white with hailstones as dense cumulonimbus clouds drifted in the mountainous expanse, a warning sign of likely more rains and associated hazard. A recent hazard mapping by Uganda Red Cross Society, the National Environment Management Authority and Ministry of Disaster Preparedness, indicated a deepening uphill fissures running several kilometres across Mt Elgon ridges, potentially considered a trigger for landslides.
By press time, an emergency response team comprising police, UPDF soldiers and Uganda Red Cross volunteers led by Manafwa River Basin project manager Tumuwa Wanambwa was reported on ground to help in rescue efforts.
Officials said it was still too early to ascertain the extent of the damage, or how much resources would be required to restore normalcy.
The director general in the ministry of Health, Dr Ruth Aceng, last night dispatched a team of different health professionals to Bududa to do on-the-ground assessment and determine first-line of emergency response.
The Sunday Monitor understands both the government and other humanitarian agencies were considering supplying survivors with water purification tablets and household items as well as tarpaulins, as a temporary measure as discussions continue about their resettlement.
In 2010, the attempt to shift Mt Elgon area settlers to Kiryandongo District in Bunyoro suffered a setback after the survivors of the Nametsi landslide complained of improper shelter, lack of land as well as food and water in the new settlement, with hundreds returning to the landslide-prone homes voluntarily.
Yesterday’s disaster struck after the government announced it had released Shs8 billion for leaders in Bugisu sub-region to identify land for resettlement of the previous landslide victims after they preferred to relocate within the area so they can be able to cultivate their rich soils. - Sunday Monitor.
A four-year-old child has been confirmed dead after a hailstorm Saturday ravaged several villages causing multiple mudslides and floods in Bushiyi sub-county in Bududa district.
At least 17 other injured persons have been admitted to Bududa Hospital.
Bududa LC5 chairman John Baptist Nambeshe identified the child as John Mangoye, the son of Stephen Waninga a resident of Matuwa parish. The child’s body was found buried under a heap of hailstones.
Nambeshe said an unspecified number mostly children, the elderly and disabled were still unaccounted for and feared dead. He said the affected area was by 6.00 p.m not accessible after River Manafwa burst its banks destroying gardens and flooding several homesteads in the landslide prone district.
He said the ferocious water of River Manafwa has also destroyed the Bukigai- Nalwanza bridge that was constructed recently at a cost of Sh320m under the Peace Recovery and Development Programme (PRDP) funds. He said over 10,000 people may require urgent resettlement as more details of the disaster come to light.
Nambeshe appealed to the office of the Prime Minister to implement the urbanization resettlement programme in the district as agreed upon by government, district leaders and the affected communities.
According to a principal nursing officer at Bududa hospital Zeles Nabusayi Wakubona, among those admitted is a 55-year-old Peretina Nabifo of Namirumba village who was hit on the chest after the walls of the house in which she took shelter crumbled and hit her on the chest.
Wakubona who said the hospital ambulance had gone to pick more injured people from Bushibuya Trading Centre about a kilometer away from the disaster area identified the injured children as Anjela Nabushawo, Derrick Kutosi, Justine Nafuna, Newumbe and Watsemba.
Bulucheke sub-county LC 5 councillor Geoffrey Natubu who visited the disaster area said the badly affected villages in Bushiyi sub-county include Namirumba, Matuwa, Nabooti and Bufuuma.
It is exactly a year since the last landslide, where according to Uganda Red Cross Society (URCS), eight people were buried at Bunakasala parish in Bududa district in June 2012.
A URCS report identified the deceased persons as Patrick Bwaya, 44, Jessica Wandeka, 35, Zaina Wandeka, 4, Fred Wangoko, 10,Esau Namugoye, 6, Fred Washiwuku, 4, Night Kimono, 30, and Kevin Wandeba. The relief body URCS also established that 735 people in the disaster-stricken parish fled their homes due to the emergence of cracks while 3,368 people in the neighbouring villages in Mabayaam, Bunamulembwa, Walwayi and Bumakakha were at high risk. - Relief Web.
January 07, 2013 - UGANDA - At least 500 residents in Rwenshama Fishing Village in Bwambara Sub-county, Rukungiri District have been displaced by floods from Lake Edward. More than 200 families have been displaced since December and water movement triggered by violent waves on the lake were still forcing more to relocate by last week, according to local authorities.
The residents said stormy winds push the water into their residences, leaving houses, roads and plantations flooded. Fishing, the major economic activity at the landing site, has since been stopped. “We do not know how long this will last. More people are being displaced. They have nothing to eat and nowhere to live. All this area is susceptible to flooding because it is flat,” the area parish chairperson, Mr John Karabarema, said recently.
The water has flooded a stretch of more than two kilometres from the lake, including Rwenshama Trading Centre. Most of the affected families are living at Rwenshama Primary School and Rwenshama Health Centre. No supplies Mr Kabarema said food and other items that the Office of the Prime Minister had earlier donated to the victims had been used up. The Rujumbura MP, Maj. Gen. Jim Muhwezi, who visited the area during the festive season, promised to solicit aid for the displaced families. The Deputy Resident District Commissioner, Ms Harriet Nakamya, said the government would provide three acres of land for the erection of temporary structures to the affected families. - Daily Monitor.
As the world is set to mark World Environment Day on June 5, farmers in the remote village of Doho in the eastern Ugandan district of Butaleja are paying a heavy price as a result of harsh climate change effects. Flash floods have left many families homeless, gardens submerged and roads destroyed. Affected areas include Doho-Kholi and Doho-Habra in Mazimasa sub-county, and Namehere, where more than 1,000 hectares of food crops, mainly rice, cassava, sweet potatoes, beans, maize, as well as numerous houses, have been destroyed. The floods are as a result of intermittent rains uphill forcing rivers downhill to bust their banks ferociously sweeping away everything a long their way.
The heavy rains according to environmental experts are a result of the now unpredictable rainy seasons which they attribute to climate change. Isaac Malinga, who has been a farmer for over two decades, told Xinhua that he is back to square one as the floods have destroyed all his crops. He said what makes it had is he can now not afford to pay tuition fees for his children who are now back at school following the opening of a new school term. “This season is a loss and we are now planning for the next. Previously around this time of the year we would be harvesting but at the moment there is almost nothing. We have now resorted to buying everything including food,” he as he pondered the next move. For Abu Walubusya another farmer on the same village as Malinga, the floods have struck him to the bare. As he spoken to Xinhua in his flood cassava and rice gardens, he wondered how he is going to take care of the 20 children in his household. “The floods have affected me so much. The water has destroyed all my crops yet I have many children to look after; they now sleep hungry. We urgently need help so that this water can be diverted away from our gardens,” he said. “My children are hungry, I have come here to find food but see all crops have been destroyed yet I have got many other responsibilities like school fees. It is here that I earn a living but all is gone,” he added.
According to the villagers here, they used not to have such floods but now each and every year the situation gets worse. In 2010, floods affected the district, destroying houses, and crop fields, and displacing people. The worst hit area was Bunyole, where all ten sub-counties and two town councils were flooded for days. Roads were submerged, cutting the area and its residents off from markets, schools, hospitals and other services. As a result of the onset of the rainy season that has seen rivers bursting their banks and flooding occurring, there has been an outbreak of Cholera, not only here in Butaleja but also other parts of the East African country. Ministry of health statistics released recently put the death toll of Cholera cases at 73 although other reports say about 100 people have succumbed to the disease. The number of people affected has increased to 3,111 from 2,200 in March in 13 districts of northern, eastern and western Uganda.
Cholera is spread as a result of eating food that is contaminated with fecal material. Water from flooded pit latrines sometimes finds its way to the water sources that the communities use for domestic consumption. What’s more, floods and deforestation can cause new disasters such as landslides. In 2010, in Bududa district a landslide sparked off by days of heavy rains left over 200 people dead and scores homeless. Environmental experts are now warning of a similar incident after a crack measuring over 40km on Mount Elgon is said to be expanding. The cracks develop as a result of the villagers cutting down trees on the slopes. The trees are meant to hold the soil together but when they are removed, rain water easily seeps into the soil sparking off landslides. As a measure to mitigate the increasing deforestation, government on May 24 announced that next month each family in the country will be encouraged to plant at least six trees. Climate change is a real concern, planting trees will help mitigate the effects of climate change,” said Muruli Mukasa, minister in charge of the presidency. - Coast Week.
Pauline Oto still wears her faded yellow and green school dress, but
she hasn't been to school for years and she can't comprehend what to do
with the pen the community nurse has just given her. "Write on my hand," says
the nurse. Pauline just sits on the reed mat, her legs pulled to one
side, and stares. She has just had an attack and can't speak. She
struggles to comprehend her surroundings.
Thomas often gnaws at the cloth to try to escape. Scientists from the World Health Organization and
U.S.-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are trying to find the cause and the cure.
Pauline, 13, has been
struck by the dreaded nodding disease. Her mother, Grace Lagat, says it
will take her at least four hours to recover from the seizures, and
after each attack she seems less like the daughter she remembers. "Her personality has
changed greatly from before. She was normal when they were born. Now she
just moves around and serves no purpose," Lagat says. Pauline, like more than
3,000 other children in Northern Uganda, has been struck by the
mysterious syndrome that has doctors and scientists puzzled and has
shattered lives in this rural community. Nodding disease gets its
name from the strange nodding-like symptoms that children display in the
first stages of a seizure. But doctors on the ground and at the
U.S.-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) say that is
the least profound effect. Severe epilepsy-like
seizures grip the children, they struggle to eat, and they become shells
of their former selves. It is a progressive and debilitating syndrome
that robs children of their future. The seizures are
triggered in strange ways, say community members, such as when
unfamiliar food is brought to the children or when the weather changes. There are other bizarre
symptoms. Often the children will wander off by themselves and get lost
in the bush. And other children will start fires, according to parents
and medics in the field. Others appear confused and traumatized. We were told that
several houses in areas we visited had been burnt down by children
suffering from nodding disease. More than 200 deaths have been reported
from these 'secondary' incidents. Once, Pauline vanished for five days. Now, to protect her children Lagat ties them up when she leaves. She pulls Pauline and
her brother, Thomas, who also suffers from nodding disease, inside her
hut and ties them with a colorful, local fabric. First, she ties their
legs to a wooden pole and then their hands together like handcuffs.
Thomas tears at them with his teeth. "When I am going to the
garden, I tie them with cloth. If I don't tie them I come back and find
that they have disappeared," she says. Liberia, Sudan, and
Tanzania have all suffered outbreaks of nodding disease over the years,
but it first came to the attention of Ugandan authorities in 2009. - CNN.
"If disasters occur more frequently and/or with greater magnitude, some local areas will become increasingly marginal as places to live or in which to maintain livelihoods."
Southern Europe will be gripped by fierce heatwaves, drought in North Africa will be more common, and small island states face ruinous storm surges from rising seas, a report by United Nations climate scientists says.
The assessment is the most comprehensive yet by the 194-nation Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change into the impact of climate change on extreme weather events. A 20-page draft ''summary for policymakers'' says that global warming will create weather on steroids, and that these amped-up events - cyclones, heatwaves, diluvian rains, drought - will hit the world unevenly. Subject to modification, the draft summary will be examined by governments at a six-day meeting of the panel starting today in the Ugandan capital Kampala. In the worst scenario, settlement in some areas could be wiped out, the report says. ''If disasters occur more frequently and/or with greater magnitude, some local areas will become increasingly marginal as places to live or in which to maintain livelihoods,'' it says.
''In such cases migration becomes permanent and could introduce new pressures in areas of relocation. For locations such as atolls, in some cases it is possible that many residents will have to relocate.'' The authors of the 800-page report express confidence in some findings but stress uncertainty in others, mainly due to lack of data. They also emphasise that the vulnerability of human settlements depends as much or more on exposure, preparedness and the capacity to respond as it does on the raw power of nature's violent outbursts. Average global temperatures have risen by nearly 1 degree since pre-industrial times, with forecasts for future warming ranging between an additional 1 to 5 degrees by 2100. But these worldwide figures mask strong regional differences. - SMH.
Concern Worldwide, Ireland’s largest humanitarian agency, has warned that the current drought in the Horn of Africa, which is already affecting 10 million people, and has been described as the worst food crisis facing the world right now, is reaching a tipping point.
Successive droughts have left people without access to water and food, killed livestock, and led to a surge in food prices. Concern staff on the ground in Somalia report that people are travelling for weeks with no possessions in order to reach help in urban areas and neighboring countries. “People who have lost everything have arrived in Mogadishu for assistance, but for some it’s too late,” warns Sarah Robinson, from Concern Worldwide, Somalia. “A combination of hunger and despair mean that many people simply go to sleep and do not have the energy to wake up.
This has potential to be as bad as anything since 1991,” she added, referring to a major famine which killed an estimated 250,000 people and left two million displaced. In a press release issued on Wednesday, the humanitarian agency said malnutrition levels are among the highest in the world with 30 per cent of children suffering from malnutrition in many areas of the south. Concern is reporting outbreaks of measles and diarrhoea which, added to malnutrition, are leading to deaths of many children in the areas where they work. With 25 years’ experience in Somalia, Concern is one of the few international agencies currently working on the ground. Concern has been responding to the needs of this drought emergency since its onset in late 2010 reaching over 100,000 people with clean water, food and nutritional care. - BK Choices.
A couple hours ago, I featured the story of the death of 18 persons in Uganda from lightning strikes, now comes news of more deaths by these strikes, this time in Nigeria.
Eleven people were killed by lightning in two communities in northern Nigeria during torrential rains, Red Cross and local officials said Wednesday. Eight peasant farmers were killed and another 12 injured on Tuesday during a thunderstorm outside Balanga village in Gombe State, Nigerian Red Cross official Bala Ahmed told AFP. "The farmers were working on their farms when it started to rain and they sought shelter under a tree which was then struck by lightning," Ahmed said.
In a separate incident in Damaturu, the state capital, three people were struck by lightning during a downpour in a timber market, the head of the market, Abbati Muhammad, told AFP. Lightning "struck and three people who had come to buy firewood were caught in it and died on the spot", he said. Lightning strikes occur in Nigeria during the rainy season which has just begun. Last week, 24 people died in flooding in northern city of Kano following heavy rains. Nigeria experienced severe flooding last year, which left scores dead and that affected around half a million people in two-thirds of its 36 states, according to the emergency agency, which has predicted unprecedented heavy rainfall and severe flooding this rainy season. - Emirates 24/7.
A UN spokeswoman said on Tuesday that some areas of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Uganda are seeing "one of the driest years since 1950/51," due to two consecutive years of low rainfall.
The worst drought in 60 years in the Horn of Africa has sparked a severe food crisis and high malnutrition rates, with parts of Kenya and Somalia experiencing pre-famine conditions, the UN said yesterday. More than 10 million people are now affected in drought-stricken areas of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Uganda and the situation is deteriorating, it said. "Two consecutive poor rainy seasons have resulted in one of the driest years since 1950/51 in many pastoral zones," Elisabeth Byrs, spokeswoman of the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said. "There is no likelihood of improvement [in the situation] until 2012," she added. Food prices have risen substantially in the region, pushing many moderately poor households over the edge, she said.
A UN map of food security in the eastern Horn of Africa shows large areas of central Kenya and Somalia in the "emergency" category, one phase before what the organisation classifies as catastrophe/famine – the fifth and worst category. Child malnutrition rates in the worst affected areas are more than double the emergency threshold of 15 per cent and are expected to rise, Ms Byrs said. High mortality rates among children are also reported. Drought and fighting are driving ever greater numbers of Somalis from their homeland, with more than 20,000 arriving in Kenya in just the past two weeks, the UN refugee agency UNHCR said. It voiced alarm at the dramatic rise, noting the average monthly outflow had been about 10,000 so far this year. - The Independent.
Meteorologists call for more lightning conductors as 38 children injured in same incident are admitted to hospital with burns. Eighteen schoolchildren and their teacher have been killed in a lightning strike in Uganda, police said.
The country has one of the highest rates of lightning deaths in the world and its capital, Kampala, has more days of lightning per year than any other city, according to the World Meteorological Organisation. The lightning hit the victims in a classroom at a school in Kiryandongo, 130 miles north of Kampala. Another 38 children were admitted to hospital. The east African country has suffered several fatal lightning strikes in recent weeks during unseasonably heavy rains. The deaths were debated in parliament on Monday, with MPs calling on the government to come up with strategy to deal with what several termed "a crisis". "I don't know which minister is in charge of the lightning but let the government come up with a statement to inform the country on what is going on and how we can manage it," speaker Rebecca Kadaga said. Local meteorologists have criticised the government for not providing enough lightning conductors for buildings in storm hotspots.
"The 19 were killed in a single lightning strike on Monday," a police spokesman said. "They were ready to leave school but there was a heavy downpour and so they sheltered in the classroom and then, all of a sudden, it struck." Police said 15 of the 38 injured were still in hospital being treated for burns. Local media quoted medical officials in Kiryandongo predicting the death toll could rise. The state-owned New Vision newspaper said on Tuesday that at least 40 people had been killed by lightning strikes in recent weeks. The police did not give an official death toll. Many of the strikes have killed children. Three siblings aged four, six and eight were killed while sheltering under a tree on their way home from school last week and another two children were killed the week before, police said. - The Guardian.
About 40 houses had their roofs blown off and hundreds of acres of crops destroyed when a hailstorm hit Namutumba District, in eastern Uganda. The two-hour hailstorm on Thursday hit 20 villages including Isegero A and B, Ndikitwamaila, Namukoge, Busene, Nabikenge, Bakudumira, Nawampiti, Kibaale and Kivule.
Domestic animals and birds were also killed. Eight hours after the downpour, ice blocks were still visible on the ground. In Nsinze Sub-county, several plantations under the Naads programme were destroyed. Mr Richard Kayingo, the sub-county NAADS coordinator, while touring the plantations, said the government should provide relief aid, including seeds, to farmers. “This is horrible. It is a total destruction and there is no hope for farmers to have any harvest this season,” he said. Most of the crops were left with two months to mature but farmers’ hope of a fruitful harvest has been dashed.“We have nothing to do right now. We don’t have seeds. The affected families should be given food aid for three months as they wait for the new season,” Mr Kayingo said.
Residents have also appealed to non-governmental organisations to come to their aid. ‘No mangoes for lunch. My family has been depending on mangoes for lunch and breakfast. We have been eating food only at supper. But now that the hailstorms have destroyed the mangoes, I don’t know how my family of 15 will survive,” said Moses Nabongo of Isegero village. The area councillor, Mr George Damba, asked government to provide temporary shelter to the affected families. The Chief Administrative Officer, Mr David Kawoya, said he has set up a team to assess the magnitude of the damage. “I have set up a team led by the district agriculture officer to establish the actual number of people affected and the acreage of the plantations destroyed so that we forward the report to the ministry of disaster preparedness for redress,” he said. Two people sustained serious injuries when a building collapsed on them during the downpour and were admitted to Nsinze Health Centre IV. - Monitor.
