Today, 31st/07 2022 marks exactly one year since floods hit Mbale City and Mbale district.

Triggered by heavy rains, the floods hit the villages of Nkoma, Busamaga, Namkwekwe and other parts of the city claiming 29 people and displacing hundreds of others.

The disaster followed heavy rains that pounded Bugisu and Sebei regions on July 30, 2022, forcing several rivers to burst their banks leading to flooding and landslides in Mbale, Manafwa, Bulambuli, and Kapchorwa districts.

Up to 800 households were affected by the calamity including an industrial park, health centre IIIs, bridges, educational institutions, recreational facilities as well as agricultural installations.

COU family tv visited the areas that were affected to see the progress of the area a year after the disaster. The shadows of the agony caused by the disaster still linger in the lives of many flood survivors.

The rivers that filled to capacity and broke their banks have since subsided. The areas that were filled with water have since been reoccupied, gardens filled with plantations of maize, Matooke and other food crops.

Some parts which had infrastructure like churches and homes have since been abandoned many people who lived in these areas are still plagued by memories of the disaster.

 Sarah Nandutu, a resident of Busamaga in Mbale city is one of the victims of the 2022 floods who narrowly survived death. Nandutu who lived adjacent to river Nabuyonga had her permanent house swept away by the floods. She recounts the incident saying that it was by God’s grace that she is still living since water swept her out of the house and dumped her at the bank of the river only to hold herself on a tree.

Nandutu says that since then, she relegalized the dangers of living near the river and that she has since started planting trees and bamboo along the river to act as water catchments to avoid future calamities.

Nambuya Fazila, another resident of the same area says that the heavy floods destroyed her gardens. According to her, the maize in the garden was due for harvesting when the floods hit and swept it away leaving her with nothing. Depending on her garden for survival; she has since faced hardships in sustaining her life.

Abudu Rashid Mudu, a resident of Kilulu in Mbale city said that the waters swept away the church that was near the Busamaga Bridge. He notes that floods were mainly a result of the degradation of the environment where people had cut down all the trees along the river.

Following this calamity, a group of senior citizens in Mbale under their umbrella organization Likono Lye Bamsaba Development Initiative has started a bamboo planting project along the river banks of the Major Rivers in Mbale. The project aims at restoring the environmentally degraded rivers and greening the city.

Wambuzi Elizabeth Kakai, the chairperson of the project says that they aim to ensure the degraded river banks are restored using bamboo trees which are good water catchments.  She adds that they have conducted research on the project and realized that bamboo planting can do it best and ensures stabilization of the soils which can in the long run become a source of livelihood.

While Uganda's natural climate is moderate, the country has been experiencing increased frequency and severity of extreme weather events. Uganda has in past decades experienced more erratic rainfalls leading to frequent busting of rivers, mudslides and landslides that lead to loss of lives and property of communities especially those living in the mountainous areas. At the same time those in low lands experience floods. Prolonged dry seasons are also frequent leading to the loss of crops and livestock.