Climate extremes endangering the lives of women
By Nomagugu Gumbo
Elizabeth Moyo (20) lives in Kingsdale in Bulawayo metropolitan province. Elizabeth says women and girls in Kingsdale are now living in fear due to widespread damage caused by climate change instigated extreme weather events. She says most households in her community are women-led and cyclones, storms, and heat waves are making life difficult for these women.
“Since 2019, we have experienced several extreme weather events each year. Storms are the most prominent. The powerful gusts of winds have blown away house roofs and destroyed electricity infrastructure. On several occasions, some sections of the community have gone for several weeks or months without electricity,” says Elizabeth.
Elizabeth says some time last year, one of her neighbours and her children nearly lost their lives after a roof collapsed due to a heavy storm. She says the storm hit the area around 10 PM when the majority of people had retired for bed. She says no one had anticipated that the weather would deteriorate to that level.
“A few minutes after we had retired to bed, I started to hear the noise of a strong wind outside. I never thought too much about it as I had never heard any warning of storms or cyclone. As minutes passed, the wind became stronger and stronger and it was accompanied by some rains and lightning. And then there was some noises of trees crushing down. Soon after, the whole area was plunged into darkness because electricity poles had been struck down by falling trees,” says Elizabeth.
Elizabeth says she and her mother and siblings decided to shelter in one room because they were afraid that the roof would collapse. She says no one was able to sleep after the storm because of fear.
“Our house survived the storm but when we woke up the following day, we discovered that a tree had fell and destroyed a section of our perimeter wall. One of our neighbours was not so lucky. The roof of her house was blown away and a lot of her property was damaged. Although no-one died, the damage was extensive,” says Elizabeth.
Elizabeth says when she and other community members went to help her neighbour, she discovered the full extent of the damage. She says she was terrified to learn that her neighbour had called emergency service providers but no one had come to her rescue.
“It is very worrisome that service providers do not respond at the time of need. They only came later during the day and explained that they were overwhelmed. What if the house had collapsed and injured the occupants. They could have died because of not getting emergency services. Most houses in this community were built in the 1960s and they can collapse any time. Local authorities should be prepared adequately for these emergencies,” says Elizabeth.
Besides damage from collapsing buildings, Elizabeth says women were always worried about prolonged droughts and heat waves that threaten to wipe out crops.
