Govt school closed after heavy downpour in Apac

More than 1000 pupils at Igoti Primary School, Aganga Parish, Ibuje Sub-county in Apac District have been sent back home after heavy rain caused massive floods at the school.

The affected learners are pupils of Primary One to Primary Six. Primary Seven candidates have been left at the school as they are currently doing Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) which started on Wednesday 8 November 2023. They are sitting the exams at a nearby church since their classes are flooded.

The floods triggered by heavy rainfall on Sunday also affected two villages, Itwar and Igoti.

Mr Dickens Opeto, deputy head teacher of Igoti Primary School, said some teachers had also been displaced by the disaster.

More than 100 households in the two villages of Itwar and Igoti have also been affected by the floods, with several gardens and houses destroyed.

The Red Cross, Apac branch, led by Sam Mugisha, visited the area on Monday to assess the level of damage caused. No death or injury has been reported.

“Our purpose is to assess so we can give a report, and we can see what comes up," he told this publication.

“At Igoti Primary School, the learning environment, especially the compound and the classes are flooded. Most of the houses in the community are submerged and some people have been displaced,” he added.

Several pit latrines are flooded and waters are overflowing into residential areas, raising fears about the risk of waterborne diseases.

Roads have also been destroyed, making it difficult to access the affected households.

Mr Alex Ogota, Ibuje Sub-county LC3 chairperson, appealed to the government to support the affected people with food.

“It rained for about 10 hours and flooded everywhere including schools, homesteads, and roads. Some people are now displaced,” he said.

The affected persons say they are worried because they may be displaced for a longer period as more rainfall is still expected.

“The rain affected my home. My garden of beans, potatoes, and maize is flooded,” Ms Grace Pamela, a teacher at Igoti Primary School, said.

Mr Joseph Okello, the doctor in charge of Aganga Health Centre II, said they have started registering an increase in malaria cases amidst drug shortage.

“Most of the boreholes here are shallow and are getting contaminated with water overflowing from pit latrines. So, we are likely to have a diarrhea outbreak in this area,” he said.

In 2020, flash floods from the River Nile displaced many households including Aganga Health Centre II.