Thirty-three people have died in devastating floods in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The floodwater is nearly 5 feet deep according to reports, and pictures from the scene show thousands rushing to escape the city.
“The republic will not abandon you,” President Félix Tshisekedi vowed on Monday. Torrential rain from Friday through Saturday sparked the flooding, which has led to a shortage of clean drinking water after treatment pumps themselves were flooded.
At least one of the vast Congo river’s tributaries – the N’djili – has burst its banks trapping residents. The N’djili is one of the city’s more polluted rivers according to experts, with high levels of fecal matter and other waste in the water.
The city’s main passage, which leads to the airport, is impassable and part of the motorway is also flooded.
Christophe Bola who lives in the Ndanu area of the city the AFP news agency: “The water has reached 1.5 metres high. We have just managed to save ourselves, the rest is trapped in our homes”.
According to the BBC, sewage maintenance large areas of is poor Kinshasa, and there is scant evidence of town planning.
This is despite the country’s government announcing plans last year to tackle the problem. To make matters worse, the city is bracing for more heavy downpours in the coming weeks. The eastern city of Goma, which was seized by rebel forces last year, is also expected to suffer heavy rain.