The United Nations launched an appeal on Monday for almost $90-million in aid for the hundreds of thousands of victims caught up in devastating flooding in a large swathe of Southern Africa.
Floods have already affected the lives of nearly half-a-million people from Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe and predicted further heavy rains could place another 800 000 at risk, the UN said in a statement.
Local governments and humanitarian aid have prevented ”this crisis from becoming a catastrophe”, said UN emergency relief coordinator John Holmes.
”Without additional funds we might not be able to cope if the situation does get worse.”
The requested $89-million will be used to supply basic necessities such as food and water, as well as shelter, medicine and education materials in some areas, the UN said.
More than a third of the funds are needed by Mozambique, where about 90 000 people have been displaced by the flooding, which has also destroyed almost 100 000ha of crops.
Health officials in the worst-hit area around the central city of Tete say more than 60 people have died of diarrhoea from contaminated water since the flooding began at the start of the year.
About a dozen Mozambicans have drowned while there have also been several reports of villagers being eaten by crocodiles with many rivers having burst their banks.
About 700 people were killed during floods in Mozambique seven years ago. An early warning system has drastically reduced the number of deaths this time round but aid agencies have warned the overall material damage could be worse than in the 2000/01 season.
”We are only halfway through the rainy season and with more heavy rain expected, we must be able to assist potentially hundreds of thousands more people,” said Holmes. — AFP
