Meteorological experts have warned that Rwanda and the rest of East Africa will experience floods between November and December.

This the, weatherman said, may affect farmland and lead to loss of lives and property if people living in high risk zones are not relocated.

According to Zachary Atheru, programmes manager at Climate Prediction and Application Centre (Icpac), some parts of the region will experience flash floods while others will be hit by strong flooding.

“The fact that rainfall has started earlier in some counties for instance in Rwanda, and Burundi, farmers should expect flooding around mid October and early November,” he said, at the sidelines of the 50th Greater Horn of Africa Climate Outlook Forum that was recently held in Kigali.

Early preparation “Farmers should prepare their farms early because rainfall is expected to start, and withdrawal earlier than usual in some parts of the region,” Mr Atheru.

However, he noted that some people do not respond to weather alerts, which leads to loss of lives and property.

“Most of the times, the rain-related risks claim lives of people not because it is torrential, but because of not taking the preventive precautions during the initial phases of set up their homes or infrastructures,” said Jean Baptist Nsengiyumva, director of risk reduction and preparedness unit.

“We find people ignore the warnings against the foreseen or possible disasters saying … “I was born, raised and lived here for years and nothing has happened,” said Mr Nsengiyumva.