PARTS of Shinyanga Region were cast in mourning as six children lost their lives, including three from the same family, overpowered by collapsing house walls during a downpour on Friday.

Anamringi Macha, the regional commissioner, said over the weekend that the rains had destroyed 50 houses, leaving hundreds of people without shelter.

The RC visited some intensely affected areas, including Ngassa Mataaluma’s family at Mishepo in Shinyanga District, who lost three children.

He named the deceased children as Nkamba (13), Gigwa (8) and Salumu (3), while Paulo Matisho (4), Emmanuel Charles (3) and Nicholas Focus (3) also died in Ushetu District, from different families.

The RC said the ongoing rains have wrought havoc in the region, destroying roads, bridges, houses, and waterlogging crop farms.

She urged residents in the region who are still inhabiting flood-prone areas to simply move, as the rains are increasing and people need to avoid more disasters.

“We have come to console this family which has lost three children. It is a very difficult situation, the government will construct a new house for them,” she stated.

The RC emphasised the need to build strong houses and ensuring there are drainage ditches to prevent water from seeping into homes, while the father of the house, Mataaluma thanked the government for its support as the family passes through a difficult situation, as the family is left with one child after three children died.

The abnormal rains since late last year have periodically been predicted in updates of the Tanzania Meteorological Authority (TMA), for instance in its seasonal climate outlook for March-May 2024.

 Dr Ladislaus Chang’a, the TMA acting director general, said at the time that the rains would start mid-February up to May, with March being wettest. Experience though was different, as April rains dwarfed TMA expectations, observers noted.

It is unclear however is the ongoing rainfall was being experienced significantly only in the bimodal rainfall season regions of Dar es Salaam, Coast, Tanga, Morogoro, Unguja, Pemba, as well as the Lake Zone regions of Mwanza, Geita, Mara, Kagera, Shinyanga, Simiyu and Kigoma.

Reports of intense rainfall in highland areas of Kilimanjaro Region made the region as intensely affected in the past two months as others.

Efforts are still being made by various authorities over public health impacts of the rains, as TMA appealed for appropriate health measures such as water purification, along with clearing mosquito breeding zones, officials affirm.