Mozambique warns of more floods when dam gate opens
Mozambican authorities warned on Tuesday that flooding will worsen in Southern Africa when a major dam on its borders opens its floodgates and Namibia counts the toll of floods in its northern areas.
The Kariba Dam, on Mozambique’s border with Zambia and Zimbabwe, is expected have at least one of its floodgates opened on Monday.
Torrential rains in Zambia and Zimbabwe have swollen the Zambezi River—Africa’s fourth longest—to well above the flood limit, with valleys in Malawi and Mozambique bearing the brunt as the waters hurtle toward the Indian Ocean.
About 63 flood-related deaths have been reported in the region, and tens of thousands of people have been evacuated. Mozambique, which lies on a flood-plain, is the worst hit, with 20 deaths and 80 000 people affected.
The Kariba Dam is run by the Zambezi River Authority, set up by the governments of Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The authority said on January 31 that it would open one of its four floodgates, but did not say exactly when.
The Zambian state newspaper reported that the gate would be opened on Monday, and that the government already has begun evacuating people from areas that could be affected.
However, Mozambican authorities fear the gate may be opened as early as Thursday. It is not yet clear how much water would be released.
While some water will surge into Mozambique’s Cahora Bassa Dam, there will be flooding in previously unaffected areas, said Paulo Zucula, the country director of the National Institute for Disasters Management.
“We would have to evacuate many people from the administrative posts and district capitals to places we have not yet identified,” Zucula said on Tuesday, adding that there was already a shortage of space in resettlement areas.
In Namibia—where rains have pounded the arid north since January 28 and flood water is streaming in from southern Angola—two children have died and about 5 000 people have been displaced.
The Cabinet was expected to discuss the flooding on Tuesday, after President Hifikepunye Pohamba toured affected regions on Monday and called for people to move to higher ground.
Gabriel Kangova, of the Emergency Warning Unit in the prime minister’s office, said the government was still carrying out assessments and that “the situation is likely to become worse”.
“We are expecting more rains to fall and more flood water from southern Angola,” he said.
Northern Namibia relies on river channels to bring flood water from Angola for agriculture. It is these now-flooded channels that have placed villages under threat. - Sapa-AP
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