Some Southern African Development Community (SADC) member states are grappling with severe humanitarian crises following devastating floods and torrential rains, as the harsh impacts of climate change exacerbate the La Niña weather phenomenon.
The World Meteorological Organization has predicted a weak La Niña in this cycle, which has brought much wetter conditions in the southern African region, leaving a trail of destruction.
The Zambezi Regional Education Directorate has announced plans to relocate nine learning institutions affected by the floods in the eastern parts of the Zambezi region, while many people have since been displaced.
This human-caused climate change has not brought misery to Namibia alone. In South Africa's Limpopo Province, heavy downpours have left bridges and roads damaged while Botswana was forced to close its money-spinning and pristine Moremi Game Reserve for almost a month due to flooding.
As if damage to property in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe was not devastating enough, the floods left several people dead in Mozambique and the already political crisis-torn Madagascar.
In his introductory remarks at the official opening of the just-ended Southern African Development Community Council of Ministers in Pretoria, South Africa, the SADC Executive Secretary, Elias Magosi, said natural disasters continue to test the region's resilience and agility.
"Floods across the region have affected over 1.3 million people in seven of our member states, displaced more than 100,000, and claimed more than 285 lives. In response, Madagascar, Mozambique, and South Africa declared states of disaster and appealed for international solidarity. The destruction of infrastructure is not just statistics; it is broken pathways to progress and interrupted dreams."
A study by the World Weather Attribution, which analysed the recent heavy rainfalls that caused severe flooding in parts of South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, showed that the region experienced a year's worth of rain in a period of ten days.