The Observer - 16 February 2014 - 3
HEAVY TORRENTS LEAVE TRAIL OF DESTRUCTION
T
Correspondent
he heavy rains that have incessantly
hit southern Africa in the past
two weeks have started claiming
human and material casualties
across the country.
A man, Kizito Masudzu, his wife and a child
were drowned and swept away by a flooded
Punungwe river in the Moody Resettlement
Area some 25km from Chipinge town, in the
East of Zimbabwe. On the fateful Sunday
night, the family went to sleep but the small
river bordering their farmland burst its banks
and swept away the hut in which they were
sleeping.
Their neighbours were shocked to discover
on Monday morning that the family’s hut
was missing. They made a police report and
organised search parties along the river banks,
which by the time of going to press has yielded
nothing. When this reporter visited the area,
neighbours and relatives were in shock, trying
to come to terms with this devastating event.
Police have not responded to by the time of
going to press.
The Chipinge area and the rest of the
Eastern Highlands have been hit by higher
than normal rains of late. Gravel roads have
been swept in the floods and farmers have
lost livestock to the floods. There are fears
that if the rains continue unabated, the region
will see diminished yields, causing severe
food shortages in the process. An Agriculture
Officer at Moody Farm Silas Chadera said
the heavy rains a ɔ