DRC floods: “At some point, I stopped asking the wounded about their relatives"

On the morning of Friday 5 May, our emergency team was informed by authorities that, overnight, floods and landslides had hit Nyamukubi and Bushushu – two villages with a total of around 14,000 people in Kalehe territory, South Kivu province, in eastern DRC.

Following calls with community leaders and local health workers, we soon realised we were facing a major catastrophe. 

Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) mobilised quickly to depart the next day. I travelled with one team by motorbike to Nyamukubi from Minova, where we were already assisting displaced people fleeing conflict.

The other team left by car towards Bushushu from MSF’s base in Bukavu, the provincial capital, carrying medicines and medical supplies for treating wounded people, as well as body bags. 

Overwhelmed

It was shocking to arrive at the usually vibrant village, where we had often stopped off, to find it had nearly disappeared. More than half of the village had been washed away: the houses, the market, the fields, the cattle, the water system... all was rubble and destruction. 

That Thursday, Nyamukubi had hosted the region’s weekly market day which attracts visitors from far away. So the area had around twice the usual population. 

The disaster caught everyone by surprise. After the first landslide, many people fled, but the river overflowed, leaving no way to escape, while the heavy rain continued.

Arriving at the health centre in Nyamukubi, it felt as if all the remaining villagers were there. 

The rooms were full of injured people – they were everywhere, on the beds, on the floors – and there were many relatives too. There was panic, people crying and shouting, and the local health staff seemed overwhelmed.

The first thing we did was to help manage the crowd and triage patients. We identified which patients were the most critical ones, who needed specialist care to survive, and which ones were moderately injured so could be treated on the spot. Two patients with head trauma injuries died shortly after our arrival. 

Meanwhile, in Kalehe town, the second team had found a very similar situation with dozens of wounded patients who had already been transferred from Bushushu. 

Over the following days, we did further evacuations of seriously injured patients from the affected areas to Bukavu, working alongside the health authorities and other organisations, now using more sophisticated boats. We transferred a total of 41 patients to the provincial hospital in Bukavu. 

It was an extremely challenging operation, with difficult decisions to take, as not every relative could be taken on board. At some point I stopped asking patients about the whereabouts of their relatives; their answers often confirmed the loss of beloved ones.

Back in the flood-hit villages, some slightly wounded patients who were ready to be discharged remained at the healthcare centres, which have become a refuge for displaced people. 

What else can you do when you no longer have a home? Other people are sheltering in churches, schools and any administrative buildings that are still standing. 

Today, people whose houses were not destroyed are hosting up to five families each. Some villagers have moved up to the hill and set up makeshift shelters there while many others have gone to nearby villages. 

Urgent needs

By 11 May, several NGOs and UN agencies had arrived in Kalehe town and were either providing aid or getting ready to do so. 

The most urgent humanitarian needs are shelter, drinking water, essential relief items, food, protection for the many children who have lost their parents, and psychosocial support to cope with this tragedy.

We at MSF remain vigilant about the condition of the wounded people and other medical needs that could arise.

So far, more than 400 people have been confirmed dead, but local authorities estimate that several thousand are still missing, particularly in Nyamukubi. 

The hope of finding them alive has faded away and the search for the dead bodies, managed by the Congolese Red Cross and the local community, continues unabated. It is hampered by a lack of logistical means to deal with a catastrophe of this magnitude. A catastrophe which will long haunt the memories of the people.