The heavy rains that fell in Victoria Falls on Wednesday morning left a trail of destruction on the roads while some houses were temporarily barricaded by stagnant water due to flooding.
It has almost become a norm that the first rains cause flooding in the resort city where water flows into houses and roads get damaged.
Council authorities have blamed the resultant flooding on haphazard littering by residents as the storm drains are clogged by garbage comprising beer bottles and containers, plastic, diapers, used sanitary pads, rags and other items.
Some drains are also clogged by soil and building material dumped by some residents who on the other hand blame the local authority for failing to clear drains to prevent flooding.
Every year in December and January the city is hit by flash floods, especially in Mkhosana and parts of Chinotimba suburbs.
Mkhosana has no proper storm drains and water would accumulate on roads and yards resulting in flooding while in Chinotimba the few available drains have been covered by sand and clogged by garbage.
This time the floods affected residents earlier than anticipated.
The worst affected areas are the Hwange-Victoria Falls road whose eastern lane was destroyed near truck stop, Ingugama road in Mkhosana and Pioneer road in the industrial area.
Some houses near the VID depot in Mkhosana were also affected.
The Victoria Falls City Council dug trenches in Ingugama and Pioneer roads a few months ago with the intention of constructing storm drains as a way of preventing floods.
The storm drains are not yet completed and the rains washed away the sides of the drains causing flooding.
The council authorities visited the affected areas to assess the damage caused by the rains and implored residents to desist from blocking the smooth flow of water through littering.
“The major concern was drainage along Ingugama road which is being rehabilitated through the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme funded by Zinara. We hope that Zinara will disburse the funds soon to enable to the contractor to move back on site to complete the project,” said Town Clerk Ronnie Dube.
He said council will put some temporary measures in affected areas as it continues to engage Zinara for funds.
Residents are advised to remove any rubble in front of their premises.
“We wish to advise the residents to desist from clogging the drainage system with litter and not to block the drainage system using soil in the name of seeking passage across the drain to their houses as this defeats the whole purpose of a drain and causes flooding.
“Council will carry out an extensive exercise to identify and fine all those who clog our drainage system with building materials,” said Dube.
Residents have expressed concern that Pioneer road will be completely washed away if no urgent measures are taken to mend the drain.
