At least 12 homes in a non-high-risk neighborhood in Nyarugunga, Kigali, were affected by unforeseen floods which resulted from a heavy downpour on Tuesday afternoon.

Residents in the area have blamed the incident on ongoing construction works in Kigali International Airport, where the construction firm undertaking the works left a large mass of soil near the airport perimeter.

When The New Times toured the area on Wednesday morning, several workers wearing luminous green jackets were clearing a thick soot that had rendered the Airport-Rwanda Military Hospital road nearly impassable.

The residents said that during the heavy downpour on Tuesday evening, muddy floods flushed out of the airport perimeter, and cascaded down the nearby neighbourhood below the road.

According to area residents, a large pit dug to accommodate running water in the airport, but with the heavy downpour, it filled up and the overflow carried the soil, flooding the entire neighborhood below the airport.

Inside the dinning room of one of twelve houses that were strongly damaged by flooding in Nyarugunga Sector ,Kicukiro on October 27 (Sam Ngendahimana)

Where Callixte Niyingenera lives in Amahoro village, Nonko, Nyarugunga, a small house in his compound was brought down by floods. Inside the main house, almost all furniture was covered in mud which at the time of our visit was up above knee level. 

"The estimated value of the damage is about Rwf4.2 million,” Niyingenera told The New Times. He and his family of three spent the night at a neighbor’s because they could not sleep in the house.

"The first thing I need is being assisted to find a shelter,” Niyingera said, adding that the company and local government should work together to help his family make his house habitable.

Early Wednesday, the Nyarugunga sector authorities and officials from NPD Cotraco, the company that is doing construction works in the airport toured the flooded village and promising to find an immediate response.

One of some houses that were destroyed by heavy rains in Nyarugunga

Celestin Kalisa, head of Amahoro village told this newspaper that a total of 12 households have been affected at varying degrees.

"We are currently working with NPD-Cotraco to find an immediate response including holding the water in case it rains again,” Kalisa said in a phone interview.

"The company has already contacted its insurer to assess the damage and eventually compensate the affected people.”

Heavy rains on Tuesday were spread across the country, with the Nyabugogo area in Nyarugenge District, experiencing one of the worst floods.

According to area residents, a large pit dug to accommodate running water in the airport, but with the heavy downpour, it filled up

Jean de Dieu Serugendo the in charge of communication in Nyarugenge District confirmed that crops and houses were destroyed but a full assessment was yet to be finalized by press time.

Nyabugogo has been one of the hotspots of rain-induced hazards because of its topography and lack of an efficient drainage system in the surrounding zones.

According to the City of Kigali authorities, a new drain worth Rwf2.5 billion expected to improve the area’s resilience to flooding is currently under construction.

It is expected to complete by the beginning of next year.

Residents in the area have blamed the incident on ongoing construction works in Kigali International Airport

This year alone from January to April, at least 140 people died of weather disasters, according to data from the Ministry of Emergency Management. Over 3,100 hectares of crops were washed away by floods and 3,082 houses damaged, leaving thousands of families displaced.