OWN CORRESPONDENT, Maputo | Sunday
MORE than 150_000 Mozambicans mostly peasant farmers – are facing devastating floods for the second time in 11 months following the opening of sluice gates on the Kariba Dam in neighbouring Zambia.
Mozambique is still recovering from massive floods in February and March, which killed 700, destroyed the homes or livelihoods of more than 10% of the countrys 19 million people and did about $1bn in damage, according to World Bank figures.
The newly affected people, who live on the banks of the Zambezi river in three central Mozambican districts, also face the prospect of acute famine as floods could sweep away more than 80_000 ha of prime farmland.
Zambian authorities said heavy rains in the country have swelled the Zambezi river, causing them to open the floodgates of the Kariba Dam.
The Chinde district, on the mouth of the Zambezi, could be worst hit. Authorities said an estimated 95_000 people are likely to be affected by floods.
Orlando Francisco, of the Agriculture and Rural Development provincial directorate in Zambezia province, said the floods could destroy a total of 84_000 ha of planted land in the three districts 16_000 ha in Chinde, 40_000 in Mopeia and 28_000 in Morrumbala.
People living on the banks of the Zambezi have been warned by the National Disasters Management Institute (INGC) to move to safer areas.
Authorities have also warned people living in low lying areas in the western province of Tete, which are on the path of the Zambezi waters, to be on the alert.
Zambezia provincial authorities have already drafted a Natural Disasters Contingency Plan which aims to guarantee a rapid response to any adverse natural phenomenon, mainly floods, plagues and epidemics.