RESCUE workers battling to evacuate 105_000 Mozambicans from rapidly rising floodwaters in the Zambezi River valley are being hamstrung by a lack of supplies to build refugee camps, while residents in endangered towns and villages are refusing to leave.
Environment Minister John Kachamila has warned that towns such as Marromeu, Luabo and Mopeia on the lower Zambezi could all sink under the Zambezi’s waters, which have killed at least 52 people already.
Last weekend, technicians at a major dam upriver were forced to further open floodgates to prevent the dam from overflowing. That sent a great wave of water surging down the Zambezi, which is expected to reach low-lying areas within the next 24 hours.
Joao Zamissa, representative for the National Disaster Management Institute, said the latest deaths occurred in the provinces of Tete, Manica, Sofala and Zambezia. The 11 new victims all drowned, mostly while trying to cross rivers.
The World Food Program and volunteers from a Marromeu sugar estate are clearing fields in Chupanga, a village where the government wants to relocate the estimated 40 000 residents of Marromeu until the flood waters subside. But there have been few takers.
“Most people don’t want to come here just because there is nothing for them,” said Jack Rose, a Sena Sugar Company employee who was cutting grass in one field.
Heavy rains and rising waters on the Zambezi flooded low-lying areas in Marromeu on Tuesday. The earthen airstrip is too wet for planes to land, but residents could evacuate by land or by boat.
With few trucks, most people would have to walk or travel against the current by boat to reach the camp. Most have chosen rather to stay with friends or relatives who have houses on higher ground, aid workers said.
The story is similar in other towns along the river, where people are reluctant to abandon their homes for camps with few facilities.
International aid is beginning to arrive in Mozambique, including 33 tonnes of emergency supplies from Germany. So far, only four large helicopters and some 200 boats are involved in the evacuation of at least 105 000 people the government says are in immediate danger.
The United Nations estimates that more than 325 000 people living along the Zambezi valley could be affected by the rising floodwaters. – AFP
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