Heavy rains cause havoc in Gokwe

Harare (New Ziana) – Several homes in Gokwe North and Gokwe South districts were destroyed, and owners left stranded by heavy rains that pounded most parts of the country on Thursday, a civil protection agency official has said.

Nathan Nkomo, chief director of the Civil Protection Department, said some roads in the two districts were also left impassable due to the heavy downpours.

Among other household possessions, the affected families are thought to have lost their food stocks and were in urgent need of assistance.

Most parts of the country were pounded by heavy rains on Thursday, resulting in flooded rivers and streams in many areas.

“Last night, we received some heavy downpours, and it looks like Gokwe north and south were heavily affected. Once the areas are now accessible by road, we should be able to provide assistance and we also want to quickly engage our repository for the grain at the GMB (Grain Marketing Board) to send to the respective areas. When households are affected, automatically their food reserves are also affected,” Nkomo said.

“As a department, we remain on high alert, we did not de-activate any systems because we are at the peak of the rain season,” he said.

He said the heavy rains, which persisted into Friday in some parts of the country, were not a result of tropical storm Cheneso which is anchored in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar.

On Thursday, the Meteorological Services Department allayed fears the tropical storm would hit Zimbabwe.

New Ziana