Why do people insist on living in disaster-prone areas? That question is bound to flash through the minds of many people, as East Africa comes to terms with the toll from the avalanche of landslides and flooding this week. Heavy rains pounded sections of the western Rift earlier this week, leaving death and destruction in their wake.
At least 130 fatalities and 5,000 displacements were reported in Rwanda, while eight national roads and 26 bridges damaged, and eight health facilities and six water treatment plants were submerged. In Uganda, a section of the Kabale-Kisoro trunk road caved in, while in Kasese, hundreds of people sought shelter in public spaces.
