17-Uganda floods, May 2020
In May 2020 communities around Uganda’s western Rwenzori mountains found themselves facing a twin humanitarian emergency of Covid-19 and large-scale destruction caused by flash floods when the banks of the Nyamwamba and Mubuk rivers burst. The Kilembe mines hospital was destroyed. The Uganda Red Cross quickly moved in to support affected families, assisting with emergency evacuations, providing first aid and distributing food and non-food items to at least 1,750 people. The non-food relief comprised: cooking pots, jerrycans, cups and plates, cutlery, blankets, soap, tarpaulins and mosquito nets, solar lamps, mats and buckets. After some locally very heavy rainfall in late April and early May, URCS Secretary General Robert Kwesiga said the floods had been foreseen and volunteers in Kasese were able to help alert people to what was expected. “As Uganda Red Cross we have been in Kasese working on other problems like Ebola as well as sensitizing the community about the Covid-19 pandemic,” Kwesiga added. Other districts badly affected included Bundibugyo and Ntoroko. In the photo Red Cross teams going through the Kilembe area to assess the extent of destruction after river Nyamwamba burst its banks.