Maputo — At least 150 families have been driven from their homes by flooding along the Pungoe river in Dondo and Nhamatanda districts, in the central Mozambican province of Sofala, reports Friday's issue of the Maputo daily "Noticias".

Preliminary data indicate that over 200 hectares of crops have been lost in the Pungoe valley. Torrential rains are continuing to fall in the region, and many homes built of flimsy material have been inundated.

The 150 displaced families were evacuated to higher ground in the locality of Mutua. Some people, alerted by the local authorities, managed to remove their possessions before the waters invaded their homes. Others, however, ignored warnings and have remained in flood prone areas.

The Inhangoma area, in Mutarara district, Tete province, at the confluence of the Zambezi and Shire rivers is also facing floods, as water sweeps down the Shire valley from Malawi. Inhangoma is currently cut off from the rest of Mutarara and Tete. Inhangoma was one of the worst hit areas in the Zambezi floods of February.

The Mutarara district administrator, Alexandre Faite, said the situation was deteriorating, and the Zambezi at Mutarara was approaching flood alert level. By Thursday morning, he said, the Zambezi was measured at 4.8 metres - alert level at Mutarara is five metres.

Members of the local risk Management Committees are working in the islands in the river and other flood prone areas in Mutarara, urging residents to leave and seeker safer ground. The only road out of the district that is still passable is the road from the district capital, Nhamayabue, to Vila Nova da Fronteira on the Malawian border.