30 January 2008
Maputo — Flooding in Tete city, in central Mozambique, worsened on Tuesday, as the Zambezi river continued to rise, thank in large measure to increased discharges from the Cahora Bassa dam.
The level of the river at Tete rose sharply, from 4.6 metres on Sunday, to 6.66 metres on Monday, to 7.56 metres on Tuesday morning, according to the latest bulletin from the National Water Board (DNA). The river was over two and a half metres above the flood alert level.
Unlike the flood in Tete in mid-January, this one really has swamped low-lying residential parts of the city. According to a report in Wednesday's issue of the Maputo daily "Noticias", dozens of houses in the Nhartanda valley, and in the Chingale, Matondo and Chingodzi neighbourhoods on the two banks of the river have been inundated.
So rapid was the rise of the river that most of those whose homes were flooded did not even have time to remove their possessions.
Tete City Council provided transport to move the flood victims to safety, and the city's mayor, Cesar de Carvalho, visited Chingale. "This is the worst affected neighbourhood", he told reporters. "People slept last night in school classrooms, but we've now had to take them to their relatives, so that the pupils are not disturbed in their lessons. We've asked the school management to collaborate by leaving classrooms free at night in order to shelter possible victims".
Higher parts of the city are also affected, because the Tete water supply comes from the Nhartanda valley, Carvalho said that one of the five wells used to abstract water for the city has been submerged, leading to restrictions in water supply. A separate water system for the Mpadue neighbourhood is out of operation, because the flood has knocked down a pylon on the transmission line supplying the pumps with electricity.
The Tete health authorities are worried that water borne diseases such as cholera could now spread, because so many latrines in poor parts of the city are now under water. On Monday there were 36 patients in the Tete cholera treatment centre. The city health director, Cecilia Matolino, feared that the flooding, plus the restrictions on the supply of clean water, will lead to many new cases of the disease.
Restaurants with a view over the river have been swamped. The owner of the "Monte Amarelo" restaurant and bar, Joao Martins, told "Noticias" the flooding was worse than in previous years. "I've got part of the kitchen, bar, dining room and bathrooms totally submerged", he said. "I haven't been able to save anything from the bar, the store, or the kitchen. As soon as the waters recede, I have to start a new life".
On the south bank of the Zambezi, in Sofala province, the small town of Chemba is in danger of being isolated from the rest of the country. Flooding on the Sangadze river, a tributary of the Zambezi, threatens to cut the main access road to Chemba.
Meanwhile torrential rains in northern Mozambique are threatening to cut the road between Nampula and Niassa provinces. Two concrete bridges are in danger of collapse, "Noticias" reports, and trucks have already been barred from using the road.
The Nampula provincial government has notified the contractor awarded the job of maintaining this stretch (between the districts or Ribaue and Malema), and told it to keep it open to traffic. Provincial governor Felismino Tocoli is said to be "aghast" at the contractor's failure to honour its contract.
The ban on heavy vehicles means that there in a queue of trucks in Ribaue, carrying salt and cement, unloaded at Nacala port, and intended for companies in Malawi. The trucks have been waiting since Friday for the road to be repaired.
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