Several houses in the Ombili informal settlement at Otjiwarongo were damaged in a severe storm Tuesday night.

Rebecca Shipanga, a mother of five with three grandchildren, told Nampa the storm tore the roof off her four-room house.

“We lost our documents and school books; all our clothes, blankets, and beds were wet,” she said.

Benson Tjiuongua recalled how floodwater reached knee height in his home, destroying all his identity documents and food and soaking his bedding.

Mina Hunibes, a mother of 10, said the zinc walls of her house were flattened by the storm, leaving her family’s home completely flooded.

“Me and my 10 family members did not sleep Tuesday night because the entire house was flooded,” she said.

Hunibes and her family dug trenches to drain the water Wednesday morning.

Simon Kalenga, an agricultural scientific officer in the Ministry of Agriculture, Water, and Forestry at Otjiwarongo, explained that the intense rainfall, which lasted for approximately 10 minutes, caused significant erosion due to the ground's inability to absorb such a large quantity of water.

“Such a large quantity of rainfall within such period of time does not allow land to absorb the water,” he said.

He noted that while the town received about 21 millimetres of rain, the informal settlement likely received much more.

Otjiwarongo Deputy Mayor, Julienda Kampungu, who lives near the affected area, confirmed that she is aware of the situation.

“I am aware of the natural disaster in Ombili, and I took pictures to inform other local and regional leaders,” said Kampungu.