Heavy rains cause flooding in Kinshasa

Officials warn: The first assessment of flooding and landslides caused by rain in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), is only tentative.

A report – still tentative – was announced by the government on Tuesday evening, December 13, at 120 dead. A convoy sent by police in the DRC’s capital reported at least 55 dead. After a tense meeting, the government declared three days of national mourning starting Wednesday.

The flood caused significant material damage and inundated the main streets of the center of the megalopolis, home to around 15 million people, in the early hours of the morning. According to the chief of police in DRC’s capital, General Silvano Kasongo, victims are counted in different districts and communes of the city, especially in valleys where houses were destroyed by landslides.

“The Wall Has Fallen”

Among the dead were nine members of a family, including young children, who were killed when their house collapsed in Kinshasa’s Binza Delwax district of Nagalema commune.

“Around 4am, we woke up to water seeping into the house.”A family relative testified. “We managed the water and thinking there was no more danger, we went back indoors to sleep and we got wet”, he added. The family went back to bed “Suddenly, the wall collapsed”.

The Congolese capital was paralyzed by heavy rain overnight. In particular, it triggered a landslide in a peripheral district, cutting off National Road 1 heading west.

“In Erosion, Settlements Have Been Washed Away”Prime Minister Jean-Michel Chama Leconde told reporters “Twenty dead”. “Searching in the Ruins” Go ahead, he said.

National Road 1, essential to serve the city, connects the capital to the Madadi River port between Kinshasa and the Atlantic Ocean. The collapse of the road occurred in the hilly commune of Mont-Nakafula, which is prone to frequent landslides due to rains and worsened by anarchic urbanization.

“Replenishment has already begun”, said the Prime Minister. According to him, the small vehicles will be on the road within twenty-four hours. For trucks, you need “Civil engineering work may take three to four days”He estimated.

Earlier in November 2019

In the city, small rivers, canals and sewers overflowed, flooding streets including La Combe, one of the city-state’s twenty-four municipalities, which is generally more sheltered from the daily hassles of the people of Kinshasa. Like power outages, garbage piles and frequent floods. The district is home to ministries and embassies.

Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi said Tuesday in Washington, where he is attending a three-day summit between the United States and dozens of African countries — that his country is particularly targeted by climate change and its damage. Speaking during an interview with US diplomatic chief Anthony Blinken, he felt that his country was not there “Unfortunately, not seen enough and not accompanied” deal with it.

“This is an example of what we have regretted and reduced for some time, and this support must come from countries that pollute and, unfortunately, have harmful effects in our countries that have no way to protect against it.”He declared.

Offering his condolence, Mr. Blinken considered that the flood had brought about his lot “Further proof of the climate change challenge we must face together”.

In November 2019, around 40 people died in Kinshasa after heavy rains caused floods and landslides. Mont-Nakafula was one of the most affected communes. November, At least twenty people were killed Landslides and flooding caused by heavy rains in Masisi territory (North Kivu), eastern DRC.