People in Burundi struggle amid Lake Tanganyika’s endless flooding | In Pictures News

Asha, a four -year -old mother, found once again wearing rubber boots inside her living room, the recurring cost of residing near Lake Tanganika in Burundi, where climate change and implacable floods have part of daily life.

The elegant architecture of Gatumba, a border of the city, the capital, sparkwest, serves as a testimony of its tight prosperity. However, for many, that memory feels remote.

Increasingly, residents resort to launch tents on their roofs, while children move between houses in makeshift rafts designed with plastic bottles.

“We have been underwater for years,” said Asha, 32.

Lake Tanganyika is known for its cyclical fluctuations at the water level, but global warming, global warming, according to Bernard Sindayihebura, a specialist in urban planning and the environment at the University of Burundi.

He explained that the surface temperatures in the second largest lake in Africa constantly rose, which led to a heavier rain and pushing the lake over its historical average since 2018.

With the fan -made lake, the Razizi River cannot be drained, resulting in persistent floods that flood surrounding areas such as Gatumba on the North Coast.

The situation intensified in 2023, when Asha and Re -Family were forced to flee from a particularly severe flood. With water climbing as high as its waist, it had to seek refuge in near temporary accommodation.

The following year, and again this year, they were repeatedly displaced, while the waters of the floods involved whole neighborhoods.

Burundi is among the poorest nations in the world, in 187 of 193 in the United Nations Human Development Index. The UN also lists it as one of the 20 countries most vulnerable to climate change.

In 2024, the rains beaten, magnified by the El Niño phenomenon, displaced almost 100,000 people and charged numerous lives, although official figures have not been published.

Ariella, a seven -year -old mother who now resides in the Gateri camp for internally displaced people (IDP) in northern Burundi, spoke of losing everything in the floods of Gatumba 2020.

His house collapsed, and one of his babies was almost swept by the waters of the flood. The family moved between two different camps, only to be beaten by floods again.

“We wonder how our future is,” said Ariella.

In Gatumba, community leader Jean-Marie Niyonkuru, 42, said residents are doing everything possible to face, but the conditions remain serious.

“Children suffer from Dianrhoea because water has mixed with bath water, flooding the streets,” he said. “There are many anger.”

Save The Children is now attracting for help, but critical financing has three above. According to President Donald Trump, 83 percent of the United States humanitarian projects have been suspended, with programs related to the climate among the most at risk.

The United States previously provided 40 percent of global aid, and no other country has closed the gap.