The National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) says they have alerted their South Africa and Mozambique counterparts about possible flooding following heavy rains that have resulted in water rising in most of the river mainstreams in Botswana.
Heavy rainfall left a trail of destruction last week in the northern parts of the country in villages such as Serule, Selibe-Phikwe.
On Sunday, the NDMO office was on high alert, evacuating people as the water levels in Lotsane River rose.
So far no one has died as a result of the flooding, NDMO Principal Programme Officer, Maeletso Pego, said. Pego expressed fear that rising water levels in most of the mainstream rivers after would endanger to members of the public in South Africa and Mozambique.
He said that last year following heavy rains, the water levels rose in most of the rivers causing flooding in South Africa’s Limpopo, leading to loss of property.
“We feared that there was a likelihood of flooding there and we had to warn them so that they are prepared,” he said.
Pego said Palapye, where residents were evacuated after the overflow of Lotsane River threatened homesteads, was put on alert on Sunday.
He said that they were able to alert people to prepare for likely disaster as the water rose ominously in the mainstream river.
With the water levels receding, those evacuated had returned to their homes.
In Serule, five families were temporarily relocated after floods swept away their homesteads.
Meanwhile the NDMO says it intends to fund the upgrading of the storm water drainage system in Selibe-Phikwe after it became evident that storm water drainage system was unable to cope with the water pressure after the weekend’s heavy rain.
