Waterlogging can cause the death of papayas in 48 hours.

"To remain healthy, the papaya plant needs regular rainfall or irrigation with good drainage while flooding for 48 hours is fatal. A balance between soil water and soil air O2 is important for root growth of papaya."
https://www.ishs.org/ishs-article/740_27

So, this is a very serious issue for you and you should take immediate steps. There has been a lot of flooding in TZ https://reliefweb.int/country/tza

Below is a useful information from kenya http://www.jkuat.ac.ke/departments/wa...
I added notes in [brackets]

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2 Preventative Measures in Rainfed Agriculture
Rainfed agriculture usually suffers from temporary waterlogging associated with excessive rainfall, flat
topography or poor land and water management. Poor drainage can be controlled using preventative
measures such as:
2.1 Reducing unnecessary percolation of rainfall
This involves efficient disposal of storm water in excess of crop water requirement. The excess water collects
because of high seasonal rainfall (termed in-situ rainfall), concentrated over a short period, in an extensive flat
land, or downstream channel obstruction, or soils of shallow impermeable barrier (planosols) or low
infiltration rates (vertisols). The solution would be to have
(i) Cambered beds,
(ii) Leveling of flat areas to reduce depressions,
(iii) Sub-soiling to break the hard pans and improve infiltrations
(iv) Excavation of farm ponds to store water for later and use/ supplementary irrigation,

[You can dig a pit to have water drain into]

(v) Grow water loving plants e.g. sugarcane, and
(vi) Improving terrace outlets before the rains. A functional outlet is the most important part of the
drainage system.


2.2 Controlling surface runoff
Surface runoff from large catchments or paved areas such as homesteads, urban areas and roads can be
excessive to the point of causing waterlogging of receiving lowlands. The excess water can be due to high
intensity storms on sloping ground, high ratio of catchment to receiving areas or poor land use and
management practices in the catchment. The solution would be to:
(i) Construct diversion ditches/cutoff drains to intercept the runoff,
(ii) Conservation in the catchment areas to reduce runoff accumulation,
(iii) Water harvesting and storage in tanks, pans and other structures,
(iv) Developing a functional runoff collection and disposal system.

2.3 Tree planting
Tree planting, particularly of species that take up a lot of water, e.g. eucalyptus tree species, can be helpful in
lowering water table. The trees further ameliorate the environment and can be used for commercial purposes.

Deep rooted eucalyptus trees have roots extending up to 3 m but transpire water at a high rate and thus
works as a biological pump. This they can take care of unwanted drainage water in irrigation schemes and
temporary waterlogging in rainfed systems. But the bio-drainage is only effective if there is adequate aeration
in the root zone and the roots extend up to ground water reservoir and draw water from capillary zone.

2.4 Other Preventative Measures
(i) Land grading: land grading is useful for improving surface drainage in waterlogged soils, especially in
irrigated lands.
(ii) Cropping patterns: vegetation and crops which have high rate of evapotranspiration may be
patronized to serve as natural drainage system.
[plant other crops between the papaya, especially something that will give nitrogen to the soil, like beans]

(iii) Optimum water use: conjunctive use of surface and ground water be encouraged by digging wells
and sinking shallow tube wells.
(iv) Better irrigation methods: Improvements in water applications by giving only the optimum depth of
irrigation water. Sprinkler and drip irrigation methods be introduced to reduce percolation losses.
(v) Punching underground barriers: Geological formation such as buried ridges as may be interfering
with the subsoil flow leading to waterlogging conditions may be punctured to lower the water table.
(vi) Efficient drainage system: an efficient drainage system is essential for the quick disposal of the storm
water and excess irrigation water.
(vii) Removing obstruction in natural drainage: improved by removing debris from the water ways and
providing adequate waterway under the road bridges and drainage crossings.