08 Apr 2026

 Residents in flood prone areas are on high alert as Chobe River water levels continue to rise triggering widespread floods.

Department of Water and Sanitation’s chief water and sanitation officer at Kasane station, Mr Otlaathusa Tshekiso said water levels in the Chobe River recorded the highest readings in five years resulting in over spilling from the main river channel into floodplains.

He explained that this year’s hydrological patterns mirrored the high rainfall years of 2009/10, 2017/18 and 2019/20 raising alarms for flood prone communities.

Mr Tshekiso said in the aforesaid rain seasons the water levels at Mowana station, which was used for reporting weekly national hydrological situation, exceeded the 5.35 metres threshold.

He said the increasing water levels in the Chobe River were driven by a regional surplus in rainfall and strong inflows from the upstream Zambezi catchment.

Mr Tshekiso indicated that lodges near Shoprite and Chobe Big Five Lodge in Kasane were sitting in a flood prone area hence flooding during a surge in water levels.

Moreover, he said the Kachikau-Satau road as well as Satau village were highly vulnerable to isolation and inundation during Chobe River peak flows.

Mr Tshekiso said the District Disaster Management Committee (DDMC) was conducting a community sensitisation through public announcement and schools outreach to alert students on the threats that were posed by rising water levels and possible floods.

He said the DDMC was equally engaged in mobilising resources and putting in place mitigation measures to manage envisaged closure of flood-prone roads inside Chobe National Park.

Furthermore, he said the DDMC would continue to conduct risk assessments in flood prone areas and educate residents to be on high alert, adding that currently no one had been displaced by the inflows. ENDS