Tuesday 30 August 2011

Uganda landslides


Heavy rain has brought disaster to another part of Africa.   At least 24 people have been killed by landslides in the Bulambuli district of eastern Uganda.    One village has been completely submerged in mud, and a chief, his wife and their eight children are reported to have died. 

Red Cross workers and local people have been digging in the mud to try to find survivors, and hundreds of people have had to leave their homes.   The sudden downpours follow months of below-average rain.

Last year, officials said they would be moving up to half a million people from the area after landslides killed at least 300 people, but in the end only a few thousand were relocated because of local opposition to the plan.

Many trees have been cut down because of rapid population growth, and this is said to have made floods and mudslides more common, while the government also blames climate change.    (See also my blogs of November 12, 2009 and March 3, 2010.)

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