On 31 October 2025, a heavy overnight downpour hit Kampala, the capital of Uganda. By morning, basements in downtown Kampala retail shops were submerged, arcades were waterlogged, with seven commercial buildings were affected. Many retailers lost their entire stock, with an estimated combined loss of UGX 23.64 billion (USD 6.33 million) from this flood event alone. Public blame was widely directed at the ongoing construction of the Nakivubo stormwater drainage channel. Slowly, the media buzz faded, while affected traders were left facing a long wait for compensation.

And then five months later, on 6 March 2026, a heavy afternoon downpour flooded the city again, submerging building basements, paralysing transport, with reported fatalities. This time, the blame shifted to stormwater blockage due to poor waste management.

Urban floods reflect a wider reality across Sub-Saharan Africa. Rapidly growing urban livelihoods are largely dependent on informal sectors such as retail trade, often operating in ‘downtown’ areas that are highly prone to floods. When intense rainfall occurs, partially functioning drainage systems are quickly overwhelmed, and floodwaters spill into the very commercial areas where hundreds of people earn their living.

The direct consequences of flooding fall most heavily on vulnerable urban traders with limited protection against disruption and loss. The lived reality of the urban vulnerable traders is familiar: the same place, the same flood, and the same people. Repeated occurrences reveal deeper failures in urban planning, sanitation, and governance, and show how the burdens of water risk are unevenly carried by those already living closest to the edge.

Urban flood management in Kampala must therefore shift from temporary emergency to address deeper structural causes of repeated flooding, strengthen drainage and urban planning. In addition,  vulnerable traders should be at the centre of recovery and preparedness efforts to ensure their survival.

Until then, each new downpour will continue to expose the weak infrastructure and the unequal urban realities that leave the most vulnerable to bear the greatest burden.

This blog is part of the Urban flood study in Kampala, where field data and interviews were collected on the affected traders

The writer is a hydrologist and researcher (contact: christine.kaggwa@fostarr.com)