Floods displace over 500 households in Dokolo

DOKOLO | Authorities in Dokolo District have rais3d concerns over the increasing number of residents being displaced by floods.

Triggered by the rising water levels in Lake Kwania, floods are currently wreaking havoc on communities across five Sub-counties in Dokolo District, forcing residents to flee their homes in search of safety.

Samuel Araca, a resident of Telela Village in Adeknino Parish, said his family has been forced to abandon their houses that have been flooded.

Araca lives in the three-roomed house with his family of 11.

“The water usually comes in the night, and the volume is much. It has destroyed everything, including gardens and trees. I am now living on top of this anthill,” Ogwal said, pointing at a grass-thatched house seated on an anthill.

The family of Araca is counted among more than 500 households displaced as floods wreak havoc on the locals. Tàhe flooding is attributed to the overflow of Lake Kwania and has submerged a vast expanse of land, including homes, farms, and infrastructures across Dokolo District.

The affected sub-counties include Kangai, Okwongodul, Kwera, Adeknino, and Agwata Town Council.

Local authorities, in collaboration with well-wishers, are racing against time to provide relief assistance to the displaced families.

Fredrick Ogwal Owiny, the LC3 chairperson of Adeknino Sub-County, said the disaster has left a trail of destruction, displacing families and disrupting livelihoods in the district.

“Several villages have also been cut off as roads remain submerged in water. Out of the 42 villagers in the Sub-county, 17 villages have been affected, and the water level is still increasing,” says Ogwal.

Ogwal says the Sub-county leaders are currently seeking intervention from well-wishers and the government in the affected communities.

“Crops like cassava, simsim have been destroyed. We have requested an NGO, and they have agreed to help us work on the road network,” Ogwal told Nilepost.

In Adeknino Sub-county alone, leaders say more than 400 people have been affected in 17 villages. Rapheal Onencan, the assistant agricultural officer, said more than 600 acres of gardens in the district have been destroyed by the floods.

“This has left many families without food, in the areas affected by flood. Those who have food produce cannot take it to the market because the roads are all destroyed,” he said.

In areas that are cut off by water, locals are using canoes to sail from one village to another, depicting the troubles of access to social services, including health facilities.

Dr Rosemary Alwoc, a resident of Adok Sub-county, said efforts have been made to raise foodstuff for the affected communities.

“From March 25 until now, I can tell you we haven’t had anybody coming to give emergency support," Dr Alwoc said.

"The only food they received is what we mobilized. We should be thinking about relocating people to places where they can get farmland and settle."

The increase in the water level in Lake Kwania is a recurrent disaster that has seen locals in the last three years experiencing displacement.

Although the water level decreases during the dry season, communities are slowly losing their settlements to the lake