Asha, the mother of four, is wearing rubber boots again inside the living room, a recurring cost of living near Lake Tanganyika in Burundi, where climate change and relentless flooding has become part of everyday life.
The elegant architecture of Gatumba, a town adjacent to the capital Bujumbura, is a testament to its past prosperity. However, for many, those memories seem distant.
Residents rely on pitching tents on the roof as children float between makeshift raft houses made from plastic bottles.
“We were in the water for years,” said Asha, 32.
Lake Tangany is known for its cyclical fluctuations in water levels, but these have been exacerbated by global warming, according to Bernard Sindaihebra, an urban planning and environmental expert at the University of Burundi.
He explained that surface temperatures of Africa’s second-largest lake have steadily climbed, leading to heavier rainfall over the historic average since 2018.
The swollen lake makes the Luzi River unable to drain, resulting in sustained flooding that infiltrates surrounding areas like Gatumba on the north shore.
The situation escalated in 2023 when Asha and her family were forced to escape from particularly severe floods. Her hips were high, so she had to search for shelter at a temporary accommodation nearby.
The following year, and again this year, they were evacuated repeatedly as floods engulfed the entire neighborhood.
Burundi ranks as one of the poorest countries in the world, standing at 187th out of 193 in the UN Human Development Index. The United Nations also lists it as one of the 20 most vulnerable countries to climate change.
In 2024, the thrilling rain, escalated by the El Niño phenomenon, drove nearly 100,000 people and killed many lives, but no official figures have been released.
Ariella, a mother of seven who currently lives in Gatelli Camp for internal displaced people (IDPs) in northern Burundi, spoke about losing everything in the 2020 Gatumba flood.
Her house collapsed and one of her babies was mostly wiped out by the flood. The family moved between two different camps, but was hit by flooding again.
“We often wonder what our future will be,” Ariella said.
In Gatumba, community leader Jean Marignionkle, 42, said residents are doing their best to deal with it, but the conditions remain miserable.
“The water mixes with toilet water, which causes children to suffer from diarrhea and flood the streets,” he said. “There’s a lot of cholera.”
Save the Children now seeks support, but critical funds are running out. Under President Donald Trump, 83% of the American Humanitarian Project have been suspended, with climate-related programs among the most at-risk people.
The US previously provided 40% of global aid, with other countries not filling the gap.
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