00:00 Not much remains of the Che Tintin bar.
00:03 A popular spot for the people of Kinshasa to relax on the banks of the Congo
00:07 has now been partly swallowed up by the rising waters.
00:11 The manager estimates $20,000 worth of damages.
00:15 We've had many losses.
00:19 We've lost customers.
00:22 The space is not as busy as it used to be.
00:25 Our counter was destroyed.
00:28 We lost the freezers.
00:30 Fortunately, we were careful and saved a few things.
00:34 Our walkways are broken and have been washed away.
00:37 We lost our kitchen with all the furniture.
00:40 In any case, it's not going well.
00:47 Several neighborhoods along the Congo River in Kinshasa
00:50 were submerged when it burst its banks.
00:53 The water reaches highest levels since 1961.
00:57 Locals are now finding new ways to get around.
01:00 Some are making money ferrying people across flooded streets.
01:08 As you can see, it's the river that flooded.
01:12 Every year the river overflows, but not to this extent.
01:16 At first we used to carry people on our backs.
01:20 Now we've made dugout canoes.
01:26 Experts say climate change is the main reason
01:29 for the heavy and consistent rainfall that caused the river to rise.
01:33 But residents here think bad waste management has made the problem worse.
01:38 You see the river? It's not a river.
01:43 It's the place where all the trash from the city of Kinshasa is thrown.
01:51 So it blocks the passage of water.
01:55 And when the river overflows, it comes back to us
02:02 because the river is not able to sustain that amount of water.
02:11 Kinshasa is not the only area the floods have hit.
02:15 Authorities say that flooding and mudslides are happening around the country,
02:18 and more than 300,000 homes have been affected.
02:22 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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