Floods galore

Flooding in Northern Cameroon!

The seasons of Cameroon have been a frequent topic of this blog. But today we’re going to revisit it from a different perspective. This rainy season has seen the most rain in 60 years. All around northern Cameroon, towns and fields are flooding, people are being displaced and some are dying.

And I had absolutely no idea. So much for local news!

As the end of rainy season drew nigh, I did see some signs. It’s been raining almost everyday. The roads are terrible, and the electricity is off about 90% of the time. I might get a few hours a week.

A few weeks ago, when going out on a vaccination campaign, we came across a river that had swollen too much to be able to cross it by moto. So we hiked up our pants, walked across this river, and continued our way on foot. I didn’t think a whole lot of it. Just another adventure.

Then, Luke, my postmate, stopped coming in to town. A few weeks ago, I rode my bike out to his post. It was extremely challenging and I had to ford a few rivers with my bike. Apparently though, those rivers are so large now, that you can’t get across. Luke is literally stuck in his little village after heavy rains. He can’t leave unless he drives almost an hour out of the way. To get to Mogode which is south west of Vite, he has to go north for 20 minutes then all the way another large village before hitting the main road and going in the opposite direction for 30 minutes to get to Mogode. I also didn’t think a whole lot of this. I figured this was something that happened every rainy season.

Then we started hearing crazy stories. Last week 3 people died as they tried to cross different streams-turned-rivers on their motos and drowned. Sometimes they find the bodies, sometimes they don’t. There’s a weekly count of the people who drowned trying to cross the different rivers. Most of those are “en brusse” and relatively far away, so I never know the people who drown, but still, it’s a little crazy.

Last Friday, while chilling at the hospital for vaccination day, some guys came over from Rhumsiki, telling us about a house that collapsed during the rainfall the night before. The huts are made out of simple mud bricks. If they get too wet, they turn back to mud. This particular house slept 10 people. It collapsed in the middle of the night, killing 3 people, including a very old man.

And still, I thought this was normal. Very sad, of course. But the normal, rainy season, tragedies, right along with Cholera, Malaria, and Typhoid. And actually, I’m not sure that it isn’t normal. Maybe this kind of stuff happens every year. That would be sad, but it’s possible.

Then I came into Maroua, into the big city, where one gets news of the rest of the country, the world, and of course, has access to internet. Apparently, the country was flooding. The bridge to go south had washed out. Garoua was awash. Hundreds of villages had been completely covered by water and washed out. Volunteers were chilling in Maroua, waiting for rivers to go down so they could go back to post.

I took a bus down to Garoua yesterday and witnessed it for myself. Garoua is a pretty big city situated down in the bottom of a basin. Typically it’s surrounded by flat farmland, with mountains in the distance. It is the hottest city in Cameroon. For a while, we didn’t see anything, except maybe some washed out trees and puddles. Then, all of the sudden, we took a turn and to our left was a lake that wasn’t there before. You could see the tops of trees and the remains of some crops and what might have been homes sticking out through the water. But the water went on for miles it seemed. It was absolutely crazy. Except for the random plants sticking up, you couldn’t be certain that the lake hadn’t always been there. As we got closer, it got worse. Rivers were swollen to easily 20 times their normal size. We saw people poling boats, looking at the new banks, looking for things, probably lost belongings. Entire fields of dead corn poked up beside the road. It was ghostly. And completely insane.

How could a country be drowned like this and we hadn’t heard a word of it in village? Absolutely insane. Just goes to show the importance of news, I guess.

So, what is being done for these people whose homes have been destroyed, family members drowned and livelihoods ruined? I’m not entirely sure. We saw  two semi trucks heading up towards Garoua with Red Cross flags hanging from their grills. That was promising. O yeah and Paul Biya, the President came to visit the families. Although I’m pretty sure he did more harm than good. As he drove up the main road, he shut it down to all traffic for fear of assassination (apparently we recently removed two Garoua council members from office). So for at least four hours, the one and only road coming into Garoua from the South was blocked. Trucks, buses and cars were lined up for miles; food spoiling in the hot sun; tourists and residents alike stalled in their travels. What normally took 9 hours to do by bus took us 15 hours. How could stopping all traffic possibly help these people?! And what possible support or help did he bring or offer? I don’t know, but I have a feeling it wasn’t a lot.

But people here are resilient and community based. As the rains die away, people will come back by the thousands with family members to help them rebuild. In a few months, you’ll hardly be able to tell entire towns had been washed away. Hopefully aide will come in the form of money or goods so these people won’t starve until their next harvest, but even if there isn’t, families stick together here. Kids will be send to uncles and aunts. Money will be sent to the families and they’ll make it through. It will be hard, but they are a strong people.