Asha, a mother-of-four, recently found herself wearing rubber boots in her living room, which is a monthly cost to live in Burundi near Lake Tanganyika because of the constant flooding and climate change.
The town of Gatumba, which borders the capital, Bujumbura, is a shining example of its past prosperity. That memory still seems distant to many people.
Residents are increasingly reliant on pitching tents atop their roofs as kids shuffle between homes using recycled plastic rafts.
We’ve been underwater for years, said 32-year-old Asha.
According to Bernard Sindayihebura, a specialist in urban planning and environment at the University of Burundi, the water level in Lake Tanganyika has cyclical fluctuations, which have been made worse by global warming.
He explained that the second-largest lake in Africa has experienced steady increases in surface temperatures, which in turn led to heavier rainfall, and elevated the lake’s historical average since 2018.
The Ruzizi River cannot drain into the lake because it is swollen, causing persistent floods that inundate nearby Gatumba on the northern shore.
In 2023, Asha and her family were forced to flee a particularly severe flood. She needed to find temporary housing in the nearby area because the water was so high that it was reaching her waist.
They were repeatedly displaced the following year and again this year as a result of floodwaters engulfing entire neighbourhoods.
Burundi is one of the world’s poorest countries, with 187th out of 193 in the UN Human Development Index. Additionally, it is ranked among the 20 nations that the UN says is the most vulnerable to climate change.
No official figures have been released, but in 2024, pounding rains, made worse by the El Nino phenomenon, caused numerous lives and caused nearly 100,000 to bedisplaced.
In the 2020 Gatumba floods, Ariella, a mother of seven who currently resides in the Gateri camp for internally displaced people (IDP), mentioned losing everything.
One of her babies was nearly swept away by the floodwaters after her house collapsed. After moving between two camps, the family experienced another flood.
Ariella remarked, “We frequently wonder what our future will look like.”
Community leader Jean-Marie Niyonkuru, 42, said residents in Gatumba are trying to cope, but the weather is still bad.
He claimed that because the water has contaminated the streets with the toilet water, children are flooded and have diarrhea. There is “a lot of cholera here.”
Although essential funding has run out, Save the Children is now requesting assistance. 83 percent of American humanitarian projects have been suspended, with climate-related initiatives being among the most vulnerable, under the leadership of Donald Trump.
