Violent storms ravaged Katogota and Kamanyola in the Ruzizi Plain, destroying 143 houses, two schools and a church. UPDI alerts about a humanitarian crisis aggravated by insecurity and abandonment of disaster victims. An urgent appeal is launched for immediate aid and sustainable reconstruction.

Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has been struck once again by extreme weather conditions. During the night of November 4-5, 2025, torrential rains and violent wind gusts devastated several localities in the Ruzizi Plain, particularly Katogota and Kamanyola, causing heavy material damage and worsening an already precarious humanitarian situation.

According to a report from the Union for Peace and Integral Development (UPDI), led by Mulala Ngwasi Delphin, coordinator and human rights defender, the November 4 storm ravaged the village of Katogota, in the Itara-Luvungi grouping (Uvira territory). The material toll drawn up by UPDI indicates 143 homes destroyed or swept away; two public primary schools stripped of their roofs; and the church of the 8th CEPAC in Katogota completely razed.

Hundreds of families find themselves without shelter, and many children are deprived of school. Thousands of internally displaced persons and stateless refugees wander without assistance, left to fend for themselves.

The following night, November 5, Kamanyola was hit in turn. Violent wind tore off the roofs of two classrooms at Sainte-Thérèse primary school. Without rapid intervention, classes risk being suspended indefinitely. These storms occur in a context of chronic instability in the Ruzizi Plain, marked by insecurity, misery and absence of humanitarian aid.

Facing the emergency, the Union for Peace and Integral Development (UPDI) urges the Congolese government, humanitarian actors and the international community to act without delay. To the Congolese state, UPDI calls for accelerating peace talks to end conflicts, organizing the safe return of displaced persons and launching a reconstruction program for affected villages, starting with Katogota. To humanitarian organizations, it recommends distributing urgently food, shelter, clothing and essential goods, as well as supplying Katogota's health center with medicines and medical equipment for the wounded and the sick.

"The population is left abandoned. Entire families sleep in the open, without food or care. We implore all those of good will to help these victims," warns Mulala Ngwasi Delphin, UPDI coordinator. The organization calls for a swift and coordinated response to prevent a humanitarian crisis of scale in this vulnerable zone.

UPDI advocates for strengthening civil protection and sustained support for peace and development initiatives in Uvira territory.

Joséphine Mungubi