The seasonal bulletin for September to November 2025, recently validated by the National Observatory on Climate Change, predicts intense rainfall across the nation, aligning with road rehabilitation efforts, and back to school.
Yaoundé is bracing for a traffic crisis as the double threat of the back-to-school rush a raise, major road rehabilitation projects, and an official forecast of heavy rainfall threatens to paralyze the city in few months, leaving parents worried with back to school charges. The joyful buzz of back-to-school shopping is being drowned out by a wave of anxiety for many parents in Cameroon’s capital. Experts are warning of potential floods and landslides in several regions.
For Yaoundé, this forecast collides disastrously with ongoing road construction projects designed for long term improvement but causing short-term movement. Roads undergoing reconstruction are currently blocked, reduced to a single lane, with daily move that are about to get much worse with schools resuming in some weeks.
The return of thousands of students to school on Monday 8, September 2025 will encounter this chaotic traffic with these existing obstacles if not handled. With the predicted heavy rainfall, waterlogged streets and flash floods can bring the city to a complete standstill. Parents are deeply concerned. Ako Therese, a mother of two, already see the upcoming challenges if not prevented “It will be a big challenge for parents as we will be hurrying to go to work too,” she says, pitting in place the important choice between a child’s punctuality and a parent’s job security.
Take Mboh Mavis Etenna, another parent, echoing this fear and appeals for action. “The authorities know the schools are reopening and they see the state of the roads. Something should be done quickly before school reopening otherwise; it will be tough, with children taking the road every day.
We are worried about their safety with the city’s challenges” The situation is a great challenge for parents as the challenges comes at the moment of children displacement. The road works, though necessary, have created a vulnerability that the impending rainy season is poised to exploit. Parents are now left hoping for urgent mitigating measures like adjusting work schedules or deploying traffic police to navigate the looming chaos.
