THE flood situation in Western Province has left a trail of destruction which has left 80 per cent damage to the rice crop in the area, provincial Permanent Secretary, Ikanuke Noyoo, has said.

Mr Noyoo said the floods had further caused damage to at least 65 per cent of the maize grown on the edge of the plains in the region.

Mr Noyoo said in an interview in Mongu yesterday that the province had experienced the waste floods last experienced 40 years ago.

"Eighty per cent of the rice has been damaged as a result of the floods while upland, maize which is grown at the edge of the plains has also been damaged. About 65 per cent of the maize has been damaged," he said.

He said the floods could have been as a result of the impact caused by the global climate change. He said the province would this season require more relief food saying food security had been massively compromised.

He said the rain causing the floods was coming from Angola, which had put pressure on Mongu, Kalabo and Shang'ombo districts.

Mr Noyoo said the flood situation also had a serious impact on the livestock sector in the province as it was difficult to vaccinate the animals.

Mr Noyoo said places like Shang'ombo, where the livestock sector thrived, were not accessible, thereby creating a problem in the vaccination of cattle against foot and mouth disease.

"We are not able to access certain areas and we fear that there might be an outbreak of foot and mouth disease and this has been a hindrance to the people rearing animals on the Baroste plains," he said.

Mr Noyoo said the floods also had an impact on the animals in game parks such as Liuwa National Park where animals are reportedly fleeing to higher grounds.

Mr Noyoo said roads had been washed away and colossal sums of money would be required to reconstruct them.

Meanwhile, Mr Noyoo said Shang'ombo District, which was recently cut off from other districts, would soon be reconnected.

He said officers from the Zambia Army and engineers from the Road Development Agency had made headways in putting up belly bridges that would facilitate the movement of people and goods to and from Shang'ombo.