By: Hertha Ekandjo & Julian Iikela
Ohlthaver & List (O&L) chairperson Sven Thieme has said that this time around they are prepared for any flash floods as the City of Windhoek this week raised a red flag over a possible repetition of the natural disaster which claimed several lives a few days ago.
At the back of the municipal warning, Thieme has told The Villager that Wernhil Mall, which took a battering last week, has managed to get business operations back on track.
“We are complying with all the certificates and whatever we do is by law and the government’s expectations, but we do not have influence for something outside,” Thieme said.
The business mogul however could not confirm whether they had conducted inspections on the water drainage system at the mall.
In the meantime, the Windhoek municipality in a public notice dated 21 December 2022, said that following heavy rains in the city on 14 December 2022, they recorded between 88 and 110 mm of rainfall that resulted in the flooding of several properties.
Furthermore, the city said the seasonal rainfall forecast points to a normal to above-normal rainfall, thus the likelihood of heavy rainfall events followed by hail storms and lighting which can be destructive to infrastructure and humans cannot be ruled out.
“The City cautions residents and visitors that Windhoek might experience further flash floods and strong winds in the next couple of weeks and perhaps throughout the rainy season. Therefore, such situations may lead to damage to properties, power cuts, flooding and the use of some roads may become unsafe. Moreover, residents are advised to refrain from erecting houses within riverbanks, hills or any other unsafe places,” said Lydia Hamutenya, the city’s spokesperson .
Some of the city’s residents living in the informal settlements told The Villager that they are scared of the rain seeing that last week’s flash flood caused a lot of destruction in some areas across the city.
Anna Tala, an Okuryangava informal settlement resident, said she hopes that her ghetto would be able to handle the expected flash flood. She added that with the videos that she had seen from last week’s flash flood left her terrified.
“Joh! I was really scared. But what I would say to my fellow ghetto inhabitants is that we should make sure that we renovate our ghettos and buy new zincs if it is possible to stay safe,” Tala said.
Meanwhile, Ndapewa who lives in the same settlement said that one cannot prepare for a flood.
“All I can say is that maybe people should pack their belongings and store them on their house roofs,” Ndapewa said.
Last week Wednesday some areas in the city of Windhoek was flooded after short heavy downpours, with cars were being swept away.
While the full extent of the damages could not be established at the time of publication, a number of flats in Windhoek had been damaged, with some having roofs nearly completely ripped off.
Floods in January 2021 saw similar damages done to properties across with fingers also pointed at engineers and city planners for bad planning.
The whole ground floor of the Wernhil Mall was flooded, leaving shops with no choice but to shut their doors during operating hours in the midst of the rain hoping to keep their stock safe.
However, the water overpowered the doors of the shops and forced its way into every store located on the ground floor of the mall, causing destruction to stock such as furniture, electric appliances, food products and clothing.
