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Mozambique: Alert Declared in River Valleys
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Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Maputo)
29 December 2007
Posted to the web 20 December 2007
Maputo
Mozambique's National Emergency Operations Centre (CENOE) has declared on orange alert in Buzi district, in the central province of Sofala, where torrential rains caused flooding over the past week.
CENOE also declared a yellow alert (one rung lower on the alert ladder) in the Pungoe valley, also in Sofala, in parts of the lower Zambezi valley, in Sofala and Zambezia provinces, and in the Save valley on the boundary between Sofala and Inhambane provinces.
CENOE warned that Thursday had seen "intense to moderate rainfall" over much of the country. At Lucite, on the upper Buzi, 110 millimetres of rain fell, which is likely to cause another flood surge down the river.
At the Zambezia locality of Megaza, near the Shire river, the main tributary of the Zambezi, 116.8 millimetres fell. Along the Zambezi itself, 64 millimetres fell in Mutarara (in Tete province), and 41 millimetres in Caia (in Sofala).
As a result, there have been sharp rises in the levels of major rivers, including the Save, the Pungoe, the Zambezi, and even the Limpopo, a river which a few days ago had been virtually dry in places. CENOE notes that there are already floods on tributaries of the Limpopo, Save and Zambezi in Zimbabwe.
The most immediate danger is in the Buzi valley, and CENOE predicts "localised flooding" on Thursday and Friday in Buzi town, and in the localities of Estaquinha, Grudja and Goonda.
The Pungoe has burst its bank in Nhamatanda and Dondo districts, where some fields have been flooded and crops lost
But in the longer term the rising Zambezi could prove a much greater threat. CENOE warns that anyone living on islands in the Zambezi should immediately evacuate to safer areas.
In the Zambezi floods of January and February the islands were completelY evacuated, and the government urged citizens not to return there. It seems that not everyone heeded these warnings.
CENOE advises people to stay away from the banks both of the Zambezi and the Pungoe. Temporary shelters should be identified in safe areas, the communique continues, and stocks of food and water guaranteed in the event of evacuations from flood prone areas.
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The forecast is for more rain over the next few days. The Sofala provincial delegate of the country's relief agency, the National Disasters Management Institute (INGC), Luis Pacheco, warned that the situation could become "dramatic" in the Pungoe, Zambezi and Buzi basins.
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| Copyright © 2007 Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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