Maputo — As the Zambezi river continues to rise, some people living in flood prone areas are leaving their homes and seeking higher ground, according to Mozambique's relief agency, the National Disasters Management Institute (INGC).

The INGC delegate in Zambezia province, Joao Jamissa, cited on Radio Mozambique on Wednesday, said that 44 families in Chinde and Mopeia districts, on the north bank of the river, have sought refuge in safer areas.

"Currently we are not in a state of maximum alert", said Jamissa, "but we are in a state of readiness that requires the removal of people from areas of risk".

The Zambezi has been above flood alert level on its lower reaches for the past fortnight. On Tuesday the river was 5.62 metres high at Caia, the base for INGC operations in the Zambezi valley - flood alert level at Caia is five metres. This situation is likely to continue, given continued heavy rains in the neighbouring countries of Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi.

To avoid worsening the situation on the lower Zambezi, the Cahora Bassa dam has reduced its discharges from over 3,000 cubic metres of water a second to 2,800 cubic metres a second as from Tuesday morning.

So far relatively few people are at risk. This is because, in the Zambezi floods of early 2007 and early 2008, tens of thousands of people were evacuated from flooded areas, and are still living in the resettlement sites that were then established. Nonetheless, the provincial and district governments in the areas concerned are urging anyone still living near the river banks to move to safer ground.

Should the situation require search and rescue operations, the INGC has 20 outboard motor vessels stationed at Caia, and 11 soldiers of the National Civil Protection Unit, ready to intervene.

The INGC's central regional director, Valdemar Jessen, cited in Wednesday's issue of the Maputo daily "Noticias", said "We are on standby and we are continuing to monitor the flood situation on the Zambezi. This time the situation has been made easier because we have formed about 100 Local Disaster Risk Management Committees throughout the Zambezi basin".

The members of these committees are providing early warning messages to the population of the Zambezi valley.

Meanwhile, Tambara district, on the south bank of the Zambezi, has been cut off from the rest of the country, by a sharp rise in the level of the Muira river, a tributary of the Zambezi.