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Mozambique: Over 90,000 Flood Victims Evacuated
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Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Maputo)
25 January 2008
Posted to the web 25 January 2008
Maputo
The number of people evacuated from dangerous areas in the flood-stricken parts of central Mozambique has now reached 91,955, according to Joao Ribeiro, deputy director of the government's relief agency, the National Disasters Management Institute (INGC).
Ribeiro told a Friday press conference in Maputo that, on Thursday alone, 2,976 people were evacuated - mostly from the district of Chinde, near the mouth of the Zambezi valley. Since the level of the Zambezi has been dropping in recent days, it was possible for many of the latest evacuees to bring possessions with them (including goats and chickens).
All those evacuated are being given plots of land to build new homes in resettlement areas - though initially they may have to spend a few days in a transit camp.
As for the death toll, Ribeiro was unable to confirm press reports that a further four people have been swept away by the Buzi river in Manica province. He said the official figure for those drowned still stands at four people who died during the flood on the Pungue. He was reluctant to include three victims of crocodile attacks in the death toll, pointing out that crocodile behaviour is not dictated by floods, and that the reptiles claim a steady stream of victims all year round.
Ribeiro said that in future the INGC wants to see "zero people living in zones of risk". That meant ensuring that fertile flood plain areas cease to be dangerous. "We need to build dikes to protect fertile areas", he said. "That is what the Sena sugar company has done at Marromeu (on the south bank of the Zambezi) to protect the town and its own plantation".
According to the latest statistics from the National Water Board (DNA), the Zambezi is now falling along its entire length, from the Zimbabwean border to the Indian Ocean, although for most of this distance it remains above flood alert level. Ribeiro reported that the Cahora Bassa dam has brought some relief to the flooded valley by reducing its discharges from 4,900 to 3,700 cubic metres a second, a cut of almost 25 per cent.
But this relief may be short lived. Ribeiro said it had begun raining heavily again in central Mozambique on Friday morning, and the weather forecast is for around 100 millimetres of rain falling, not only in Mozambique, but also in Zambia and Zimbabwe. Much of this rain will flow into the Mozambican river valleys, threatening renewed flooding.
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The INGC is also concerned about the southern rivers, particularly the Limpopo, because of heavy rains in South Africa and Botswana. "We are watching, and we are ready to intervene in the Limpopo valley", said Ribeiro.
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| Copyright © 2008 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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