Cameroon: Devastating Floods To Continue In Douala – Weather Service

Douala, Cameroon is expected to experience serious downpours from August 24 to August 26, authorities confirm.

This follows recent devastating floods that caused damage evaluated at billions of FCFA in the Littoral, Far North, West and Southwest Regions.

The forecast was given by the meteorological service of the Agency for Air Navigation Security in Africa and Madagascar popularly known by its French acronym ASECNA.

Following the announcement, the local authorities have called on the populations to evacuate the high risk zones before the floods come again.

The Governor of the Littoral Region has expressed the wish that “the populations take the necessary dispositions to keep away from areas that may reserve disagreeable surprises for them”.

The Mayor of Douala, Roger Mbassa Ndine has admonished the populations to “observe the norms and regulations of urban occupation, notably by freeing gutters and drainage systems which have been blocked through haphazard construction and waste disposal”.

Last week’s floods caused large scale damage estimated at billions of FCFA especially in the Littoral Region and Douala in particular where almost all poultry farms in the Region were wiped out as the chicks and fowls were all killed in the floods.

Luckily, there have been no deaths reported occasioned by the floods.

In the West Region, the destructive floods led to the collapse of a number of culverts on the Santchou-Dschang road.

This led to a decision by the regional governor Awa Fonka Augustin to suspend circulation on the said road which links the Menoua division in the West to Mungo division in the Littoral region, till further notice.

Heavy duty trucks have been advised to avoid the main Bamougoum-Dschang-Santchou-Melong highway till further notice.

They are recommended to rather exclusively ply the Bamougoum-Bafoussam-Batie-Bafang-Melong artery of the regional road network.

Populations in Santchou sub division especially those along the banks of the Elienti river have been called upon to keep clear of the river route as it is feared heavy bodies of water from Lebialem would invade the area soon.

Meanwhile, government ministers and representatives of humanitarian organisations have been visiting the affected families in Douala and Edea bringing assistance and hope.

The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Mrs. Celestine Ketcha Courtes was in Douala yesterday and the Minister of Territorial Administration Paul Atanga Nji is also expected in the economic capital today.

Mr. Atanga Nji will on his way to Douala make a stopover in Edea where more than 200 houses were destroyed by the floods of last week.

Whilst in Douala yesterday, the Minister of Housing and Urban Development visited the quarters most hardly hit by the floods.

“It is evident that this is a small natural catastrophe. But we have noticed that the gutters were blocked by bottles, household waste and above all, anarchical occupation of the waterways.

“We thank God that there was no loss of human lives. However, more serious rains are announced for the days ahead, thus the necessity for the populations to be disciplined and that those occupying waterways free them.

“These floods pose a problem and we would together have to search for solutions”, declared Minister Celestine Ketcha Courtes.