CLAIRE KEETON and OWN CORRESPONDENT, Beira | Monday
MOZAMBIQUE remains on the brink of a major disaster from new flooding, the Red Cross has warned, as river levels continue to rise steadily as a result of steady rains and dams upstream releasing vast bodies of water.
We could be on the brink of a major disaster if a sudden wave comes down the Zambezi River, said Mark Wilson, head of the International Federation of the Red Cross in Mozambique.
Last year’s floods in the south are remembered for dramatic images of helicopters plucking people from rooftops, while this year’s disaster, which has so far claimed 77 lives in central areas, has been more gradual, and villagers have been more reluctant to abandon their land despite the steadily rising waters.
“We need to convince people to be rescued,” said Isabelle Ramos, the head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), in Sofala, the district worst hit by the floods.
Mozambique’s National Disaster Management Institute (INGC) estimates about 89 000 people have been displaced and up to half a million people affected by the flooding.
“We might be facing a disaster in terms of death but we already have a humanitarian crisis,” Ramos said.
“The area affected is five to six times bigger than last year, the population is considerable and very dispersed, and communications and transportation is weak, where it exists at all,” she added.
“We will need a lot of humanitarian assistance in the coming months for resettlement and reconstruction,” Ramos said.
The disaster was sparked when heavy rains in neighbouring Zimbabwe, Malawi and Zambia swelled the Zambezi River which traverses central Mozambique.
Sofala Governor Felicio Zacarias said: “The level of the river is not down, it is going slowly up, and water is still coming down from the dams,” referring to the Cahora-Bassa and Kariba dams upriver which are straining to release water.
The Cahora-Bassa dam is releasing an average of 8.4m litres of water per second, while the Kariba dam is discharging at about half that rate.
Showers and thunderstorms are forecast for northern Mozambique, Malawi and Zambia during the next week. The tropical cyclone Dera has missed Mozambique and is expected to stay clear of the African mainland in its southward path.
In the Zambezi valley the flooding has been much slower than the floods in 2000, but they cover a much wider area with a sparser population, making relief operations more difficult and costly. Many roads remain impassable. – AFP