By REBECCA MUSHOTA –
COPPERBELT residents were yesterday caught off guard when heavy rain poured down from about 10:00 hours in the morning to about 14:00 hours.
Most of them scampered for shelter when the rain came down unexpectedly as they did not have umbrellas or any other form of protection to prevent them from getting wet.
Some areas such as Twapia in Ndola experienced heavy downpours that left pools of water everywhere, while it rained moderately in the town centre.
Luanshya District Commissioner Harold Mbaulu said the rain took him and many Luanshya residents by surprise.
“So far however, I have not received any report of any damage to the maize crop that the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) has bought,” Mr Mbaulu said.
He said as far as he was concerned, the inputs were also safe.
Mr Mbaulu said he was hopeful that despite the unexpected rain, no property or infrastructure had been damaged in the process.
Ndola District Commissioner Rebby Chanda, however, said instinctively, he had told the FRA provincial director to cover up all the maize and inputs in Ndola three weeks ago.
“As if I knew, three weeks ago, I had told the FRA provincial boss to ensure that all the crops and inputs were secure. So when I saw the skies turn gray, I was happy that we were prepared,” Mr Chanda said.
