200 homeless, crops destroyed as heavy rains ravage Masaka villages

Heavy rain characterised by strong winds on Tuesday morning destroyed more than 40 houses in Kyesiiga Sub County, Masaka District, leaving 200 residents stranded.
The rainstorm, which lasted close to three hours from 4am, saw several house roofings blown off. Several hectares of crops like bananas, cassava, coffee and newly planted beans, maize also got destroyed.
The affected villages include; Katikamu, Miwololo, Ddimo landing site, Malembo, Bbiga, Mikunyu, Mweruka, Gayaza, Bbuuliro, Lukono in Bbuuliro and Kitunga parishes in Kyesiiga Sub County in Masaka District.
According to Mr Moses Gabula, the chairperson of Bbuliro Parish, many affected households are in dire need of food and shelter.
“The Office of the Prime Minister had just delivered relief items to this area following the heavy hailstorm that hit us in September last year, it is unfortunate that the same people have been affected again,” Mr Gabula said in an interview on Tuesday.
Ms Sarah Nabbanja, a resident of Miwololo Village, said her maize plantation which she thought could fetch her money has completely been razed to the ground.
“I do not know where to begin from, I got the money from the bank to make sure that this season I gain something following the loss that I got last season, I ask the government to help me," Ms Nabbanja said.
Mr Suleiman Matovu, a resident of Bigga Village, said that the government needs to come up with a plan to restore all the depleted forests in the area.
“Many forests were cut by the so-called investors and that is why we are suffering from persistent rainstorms. If the government does not intervene quickly, the situation may worsen in the coming few years,” Mr Matovu said.
This is the second rainstorm hit the area in a space of seven months after a similar one struck in September last year. In October 2021, the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) delivered food relief and iron sheets to residents in the same sub country following a similar disaster.
The months of March to June  usually constitutes the first  major rain season in Uganda, but weather experts recently predicted that the rain would be destructive in some parts of the country, especially in central region and urged the public to be alert.