5 January 2009
Maputo — The flood on the Pungue river, in the central Mozambican province of Sofala is worsening, with new areas inundated in Dondo and Nhamatanda districts, reports Monday's issue of the Maputo daily "Noticias".
The central region water board (ARA-Centro) has warned that the river will continue to rise. Water management teams are on the ground monitoring the situation, but the head of the ARA-Centro Technical Department, Antonio Melembe, said it was not yet possible to assess the full impact of the flooding.
At Mafambisse, where flood alert level is six metres, the Pungue rose from 6.68 to 6.77 metres between Saturday and Sunday. Melembe warned that continuing rain upstream, in Zimbabwe, was likely to ensure that the flood will worsen.
"We are only half way through the rainy season, and we want to warn all people living in areas at risk to move to safer places", said Melembe.
The Zambezi river remains above flood alert level at Caia and Marromeu, on its lower reaches, but the situation here is said to be "stationary".
The other major river in Sofala province, the Buzi, is now dropping. At Goonda, it fell from 3.05 metres on Saturday to 2.85 metres on Sunday.
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