2019 Burundi landslides

Since January 2019, heavy rainfall has triggered flash floods, mudslides and landslides in various provinces, especially Bujumbura (Mairie and Rural), Cibitoke, Bubanza, Muyinga, Cankuzo, and Muramvya provinces. Resultingly, almost 13,000 people have been displaced, and 45 people have died.[6] Furthermore, these natural disasters have caused extensive damage to infrastructure, and hampered access to essential sources of food, water, education and healthcare. There is also now an heightened risk of the transmission of the infectious disease due to the resulting proliferation of mosquitoes as vectors.[8]

As of September 2019, there are 103,412 Internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Burundi, of which roughly 79,600 or 77% are displaced due to natural disasters (including over 8,400 displaced since January 2019), mainly in the regions bordering Lake Tanganyika, and the north-western and central provinces, according to the International Organization for Migration's (IOM) Displacement Tracking Matrix.[9]

According to the European Union's Directorate-General for European Civil-protection and Humanitarian-aid Operations (DG ECHO) the risk of natural disaster continue to increase day-by-day with the early onset of the Burundian September 2019 rainy season and above-average rainfall forecasted by the United States' National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (US NOAA).[10] The US Agency for International Development's (USAID's) Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWSNET) has reported that the greater horn of Africa region received up to 300 per cent above average rainfall from October to mid-November 2019. UNOCHA now considers Burundi to be among the twenty most vulnerable countries to climate change and natural hazards.[8]

East Africa currently experiences unseasonably heavy rains caused by the higher-than-average temperatures of the Indian Ocean, potentially due to cyclical dipole weather phenomenons and global warming.[11][1] The heavy rains and previous floods which inflict Burundi appear to be the resulting manifestations of these factors.

According to a Save the Children count based on United Nations and government figures, more than 1,200 deaths across East and Southern Africa have been caused by floods, landslides, and a cyclone this year.[12] In addition, the UN has found that floods have displaced nearly half a million people in southern Sudan, 200,000 in Ethiopia and at least 370,000 in Somalia this year.[13]

In addition, soil erosion as a result of overgrazing and the expansion of agriculture into marginal lands, may have contributed to the Burundian susceptibility and vulnerability to devastating landslides.[14]

The recently launched Global Humanitarian Overview (GHO) indicates that Natural disasters pose substantial risks to the approximately 80 per cent of Burundians depend on subsistence farming, and that 1.74 million people will be in need in 2020.[9]

Since December 4, at least a dozen hills around Nyempundu, in Mugina commune in Cibitoke, were collapsed by severely damaging landslides, precipitated by torrential rains.[15][8]

An anonymous local Cibitoke provincial government official, reported to Reuters that victims were living on a hillside which gave way after the heavy rains of the day before. "They are still digging up dead bodies," the official said.[1]

In an official Twitter post, the Ministry of Public Security confirmed that much property was damaged in the disaster, at least 26 people died and 10 were missing.[16] According to another ministry spokesperson, Pierre Nkurikiye, other provisional police reports indicated the deaths of at least some 38 people (three in Gikomero, 13 in Rukombe and 22 died in Nyempundu), though these reports were still provisional,[17][18][3][6] and as of then, excavation and search-and-rescue (SAR) operations were still ongoing.[16]

Destruction and damage of key infrastructure – including homes, roads, and bridges – has been reported. Over 80 houses, 6 brides and roads, and 9 water access points were destroyed, and crops continued to be destroyed in the immediate aftermath.[9][5]

On December 5th, the provincial Cibitoke Governor Joseph Iteriteka addressed victims of the disaster, thanking everyone involved in the management of the disaster.[19]

UNOCHA led an intersectoral team to gain access to these hard-to-reach affected areas to evaluate the destruction. The international community's willingness to help the affected people was communicated in a December 6 meeting with the Government's Provincial Platform, led by the Governor's Counsellor in charge of social affairs. The Government of Burundi's Civil Protection and Disaster Management Unit, the public provincial and communal administration, the (BRCS), the police, the army, the surrounding population, and the Cibitoke and Mugina Health Districts,[7] have all deployed local emergency relief services.[8] BRCS teams specifically have deployed 18 members many of which are trained in first aid, and Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in emergencies.

The UNOCHA intersectoral team concluded that the most pressing necessities in order of priority are: food and water, shelter and other non-food items (NFIs such as household kits, WASH kits, female dignity kits, school kits and monetary funds for such have been provided by IOM, World Vision, BRCS, UNICEF, UNFPA, the USAID OFDA, Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, and NGOs Help a Child,[20] War Child Holland, Concern Worldwide & We World-GVC),[6][5] psychosocial support, and access between hills and villages. Landslides washed away fields that were exploited by these populations, as well as their crops and food reserves, notably those by the Mubarazi river in Muramvya,[21] and similarly much livestock.[22] Water access points and sanitary facilities were washed away and what remains of them is under considerable strain due to high demand. There is also an increased risk of waterborne diseases. The mission noted that physical access to schools in the Nyempundu area is hampered by landslides that have cut off some roads, and that many schoolchildren in general have lost their school materials.[8]

On December 7, the National Platform for Disaster Management set up an Ad-hoc crisis management committee to manage the emergency headed by the Director of Humanitarian Action of the Ministry of Human Rights, Social Affairs and Gender. On the same day, 1,900 affected households received 28.5 tonnes of rice granted by the Ministry-led committee. This aid was deposited in the commune of Mugina, over 25 kilometres from the disaster site and to which the beneficiaries will have to travel to access. As of now, no provision has been made for people with special needs, and the relocation site identified in the village of Rusagara, not far from the shopping centre of the municipality of Mugina, was rejected for the second time by the BRCS.[8][6]

On December 8, the ad-hoc committee, noting that the response to needs would continue as sectors refine their data for a more consistent assistance, requested that the World Food Programme (WFP) carry out the food assistance, which began to distribute 15-day rations of beans, corn, oil and salt on December 16,[6] that the visit to the relocation site be conducted quickly and that support be provided to all victims of the rainy season.[8] UNOCHA concluded its December 8 "Flash Update No. 2" saying "The humanitarian community will continue to work with the Government's National Platform to reinforce this emergency response, as well as with local municipalities that are willing to support these relief efforts."[8]

A week after the landslide, the burial of the recovered bodies, arranged by the BRCS in cooperation with the various Partner National Societies (PNSs) of the ICRC (Finnish Red Cross, Belgian Red Cross and East Africa Country Cluster Support Team),[5] took place on December 12 in the Nyamakarabo area, but issues were still faced in the lack of assistance to the efforts of the authorities in conducting SAR operations, the extraction of corpses, and the evacuation of the wounded to nearby hospitals. In addition, access to the area remained hampered by landslides that damaged the roads and wooden bridges crossing the area that remained not allowing heavy machinery to pass through.[6][5]

On December 16, the IOM began requesting support from the BRCS to both arrange the procurement and distribution of half of the household kits each and other NFIs to accommodate for the displaced households who, in the meantime, were temporarily relocated to various communal spaces (i.e churches and schools) or hosted by community members. In addition Burundi and the UNOCHA intersectoral team announced their intention to begin the rehabilitation of a collapsed dam and reorienting the river to its initial direction.[5]

The IFRC concluded their operation 4 months following its beginning (December 23, 2019 - April 23, 2020), having allocated 82,628 Swiss Francs (~90,000 USD) to the disaster relief emergency fund (DREF).[5]

As of December 31st, the UNHCR estimated there to be 209,179 Burundian people of concern in Tanzania.[23] The rate of return of 2000 refugees per week planned by the Tanzanian and Burundian governments appear to have been strongly affected by the environmental situation. In November 2019 only one of the three transit centres was functioning, allowing only 409 Burundian refugees to return, the lowest rate since January.[24]

The UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) have both stated that the phenomenally heavy rains have contributed to a "serious and widespread desert locust outbreak".[11] The Desert Locust Control Organization for Eastern Africa (the DLCO-EA which Burundi is not member to) noted the necessity for urgent and decisive action from all partners, as well as the resources to support large-scale ground surveys, aerial spraying services, provision of chemicals, information dissemination, and further capacity building for control operations.[23]

Forecasted heavy rains accompanied by flash flooding continued into approximately January 9.[25] Since then only moderately light rainfall has been predicted and observed.[26]

• 2018 East Africa floods
• Geography of Burundi
• 2017 DR Congo landslide

a.^ "Éboulement de terrains suite aux fortes pluies tombées hier à Nyempundu, Gikomero et Rukombe (zone Nyamakarabo, commune Mugina en @CibitokeProv ) : 26 morts, 07 blessés et 10 personnes non-encore retrouvées. Des maisons, champs et biens aussi endommagés. Fouilles en cours." (French)

Translation: "Landslide following heavy rains that fell yesterday in Nyempundu, Gikomero and Rukombe (Nyamakarabo zone, Mugina commune in @CibitokeProv): 26 dead, 07 injured and 10 people not yet found. Houses, fields and property also damaged. Excavations in progress."

 This article incorporates public domain material from the CIA World Factbook website https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/.

1. "Landslides in northwest Burundi kill at least 26 people". Reuters. December 5, 2019. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
2. "Ministère de la Sécurité Publique". securitepublique.gov.bi. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
3. "'Whole families buried alive': Dozens dead in Burundi landslides". Al Jazeera. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
4. "Burundi: Floods and Landslides – Dec 2019". ReliefWeb. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
5. "Burundi: Floods and Landslides Emergency Plan of Action (EPoA) DREF n°: MDRBI016 - Burundi". ReliefWeb. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
6. "Burundi: Floods & Landslides Flash Update No. 3, 12 December 2019 – Burundi". ReliefWeb. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
7. ABP (December 5, 2019). "#Burundi-@CibitokeProv:Jusque vers le soir de ce jeudi, le nombre de personnes décédées arrive à 24,tandis que le nombre de blessés est estimé à une dizaine dont Sept cas graves évacués aux structures de soins de la province sanitaire de Cibitoke(2)pic.twitter.com/zw5VISN4MW". @ABPInfos (in French). Retrieved December 12, 2019.
8. "Burundi: Floods & Landslides Flash Update No. 2, 8 December 2019 – Burundi". ReliefWeb. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
9. "Burundi: Floods & Landslides Flash Update No. 1, 6 December 2019 – Burundi". ReliefWeb. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
10. "ECHO Flash List". European Commission. Retrieved December 20, 2019.
11. "Eastern Africa Region: Regional Floods and Locust Outbreak Snapshot January 2020 - South Sudan". ReliefWeb. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
12. "Save the Children Analysis Reveals Natural Disasters Claimed 1,200 Lives Across East & Southern Africa in 2019". Save the Children. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
13. "Eastern Africa Region: Regional Flood Snapshot (November 2019) – South Sudan". ReliefWeb. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
14. "Africa :: Burundi – The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency". cia.gov. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
15. ABP (December 5, 2019). "#Burundi-@CibitokeProv:Le glissement de terrain lié au fortes pluies qui se sont abattues sur la commune Mugina la nuit de mercredi à jeudi, du 4 au 5 décembre,a fait un bilan lourd de dégâts humains et matériels sur la colline Nyempundu, a-t-on constaté sur place(1)pic.twitter.com/5tmdR7VNM8". @ABPInfos (in French). Retrieved December 12, 2019.
16. Sécurité, Burundi (December 5, 2019). "Éboulement de terrains suite aux fortes pluies tombées hier à Nyempundu, Gikomero et Rukombe (zone Nyamakarabo, commune Mugina en @CibitokeProv) : 26 morts, 07 blessés et 10 personnes non-encore retrouvées. Des maisons, champs et biens aussi endommagés. Fouilles en cours". @BurundiSecurity (in French). Retrieved December 5, 2019.
17. Published. "At least 38 killed in Burundi landslide". Punch Newspapers. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
18. Burundi, SOS Médias (December 5, 2019). "URGENT – 38 persons yesterday lost their lives several houses and crops fields destroyed following heavy rains in the district of #Mugina (#Cibitoke province, North-West Burundi). The police say it's a provisional death toll. #Burundipic.twitter.com/lk3QiBSow8". @SOSMediasBDI. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
19. ABP (December 5, 2019). "#Burundi-Devant cette situation catastrophique, le Gouverneur de la province de Cibitoke, Me Joseph Iteriteka dans son message envers les sinistrés, a remercié toute personne qui a participé à la gestion de cette catastrophe(4)pic.twitter.com/OT05kOazSp". @ABPInfos (in French). Retrieved December 12, 2019.
20. Child, Help a. "Help a Child | Burundi". Help a Child (in Dutch). Retrieved February 4, 2020.
21. ABP (December 5, 2019). "#Burundi-Au moment où des pluies diliviènnes qui s'observent dans ces jours en province de Muramvya ont déjà endommagé toutes les champs de cultures avoisinant la rivière Mubarazi,les bords des deux routes nationales qui passent par la province Muramvya n'ont pas été épargnéspic.twitter.com/addyVViVYJ". @ABPInfos (in French). Retrieved December 12, 2019.
22. ABP (December 5, 2019). "#Burundi-@CibitokeProv:Beaucoup de maisons se sont effronfrées sous ces éboulement sans parler d'autres pertes matériels comme les cultures et les bétails anéantis par ce catastrophe causés par ces montages qui se sont détachées pour glisser le long de la pente vers le bas(3)pic.twitter.com/wxsZvXmVZK". @ABPInfos (in French). Retrieved December 12, 2019.
23. "World Vision East Africa Region Situation Report | December 1 - December 31, 2019 - Ethiopia". ReliefWeb. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
24. "Burundi | Famine Early Warning Systems Network". fews.net. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
25. "Global Weather Hazards Summary: January 3 - 9, 2020 - World". ReliefWeb. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
26. "Global Weather Hazards Summary: January 3 - 9, 2020 - World". ReliefWeb. Retrieved January 30, 2020.