According to the Tanzania government, the three-day floods that hit Dar es Salaam from 20-23 December claimed 39 lives. However, the figure is disputed by eyewitnesses who are putting the death toll to over 100. The floods have left numerous questions over the government’s ability to deal with, among others, natural and other disasters. While the government treated the problem as a natural disaster, there is massive evidence that the floods could have been avoided if successive Tanzanian governments had played their part effectively.