The most terrible case is that of Saturday 10th March lightning that killed 16 worshipers of the Seventh Adventist Church in Nyaruguru District of Southern Province leaving many injured and hospitalized. The previous day, also in the same district, it had struck 18 students leaving one dead.
On March 5th in Ngoma District of Eastern Province, lightning struck and killed ten cows in Kazo sector as was confirmed by Ngoma District mayor, Aphrodise Nambaje.
On March 3rd in Rubavu District, five people were injured, 26 houses were totally destroyed, 924 houses partially destroyed and 138.5 hectares of crops were damaged following the downpour in the district.
That’s a peek from statistics from the Ministry of Disaster Management and Refugee Affairs (MIDIMAR) which show that from January to March this year, disasters killed 33 people from across the country, leaving 143 injured.
{{Why a spate of disasters? }}
Speaking to IGIHE, the Acting Director for Risk Reduction and Disaster Preparedness at MIDIMAR, Alphonse Hishamunda said that the disasters continue to increase due to the rain season and rainstorm.
He, however, observes that behind this spate of disasters are a combination of nature and human activities. Floods and landslides are caused by a combination of the results of climate change and poor use of land.
“Cutting down trees and razing down entire forests, lack of radical terraces and lack of proper drainage systems all feed into deepening the problem,” he said.
From the beginning of this year, disasters have destroyed 1674 houses and 13 classrooms and damaged 541.1 hectares of crops. They killed 27 livestock and destroyed 11 bridges.
Among 33 deaths recorded since this year started, lightning occupy the big number with 27, rainstorms and five landslides.
A total of 143 people were injured by disasters. Among them, lightning injured 124, rainstorms injured eleven, floods injured five and landslides injured three.
In 2017, disasters killed 67 people leaving 133 and destroyed 5768 houses and 198 classrooms. They also damaged 5251.1 hectares of crops and killed 587 livestock.
The same year, disasters also destroyed three health centers, damaged 13 roads, destroyed 37 churches, 49 bridges, 17 administrative bureau, ten water supplies and 79 transmission lines.
{{Why lightning continue to claim many lives }}
As has been observed, from January to March this year, among 33 people killed by disasters, 27 were killed by lightning.
Also in 2017, among 67 people killed by disasters, 24 of them were killed by lightning followed by rainstorms which killed 21.
MIDIMAR’s Hishamunda said that when it rains, affected people are likely to be in conditions which attract lightning.
“Nowadays, there are heavy rains followed by lightnings people who are outside their homes, close to water areas are likely to be struck by lightning; it is rare to see people struck from inside their houses,” he explained.
He explained that from inside the houses lightning struck those who don’t disconnect electronic gadgets and without lightning arresters.
He urged people to avoid using electronic sets like mobile phones when it is raining as they attract lightning.
He said that people should avoid going close to towers and metallic fences when it is raining. He added that people should avoid seeking shelter under trees.
“It doesn’t rain abruptly, people should consider seeking shelter at good places and avoid any contact with water,” he added.
Hishamunda said that MIDIMAR encourages owners of big structures and public places to install lightning arresters so as to avoid the risks.
“Regulations indicate that owners of public places like churches, hospitals, markets, administrative offices should install lightning arresters,” he said.
On the case Nyaruguru lightning that struck worshipers from inside the church, Hishamunda said that MIDIMAR has learnt that the church had no lightning arrestors and had connected electronic gadgets from inside and outside the church, some of which were directly exposed to the rain.
“If they had disconnected these equipment earlier or if they had lightning arrester, that tragedy would have been avoided,” he added.
He said that last year, MIDIMAR wrote to all districts and the Ministry of Local Government requesting them to conduct inspection of big structures to establish whether they have lightning arresters.
The Government has intervened in supporting the victims.
For the case of Nyaruguru lightning, the district promised to foot all medical bills for survivors as they also met all cost for burial of deceased.
The government provides roofing to people whose houses were destroyed and neighbors support them through community works (umuganda) to construct or rehabilitate their houses and other relief.
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