Maputo, Mozambique — As feared, the flood on the Pungue river in the central Mozambican province of Sofala has cut the main road from the port of Beira to Zimbabwe.
Mozambican Television reported Monday that the floods had submerged several kilometres of the road in the region of Tica, some 60 kilometres west of Beira. In certain places, the water was a metre deep.
On Sunday the Minister of Public Works and Housing, Roberto White, ordered a ban on all attempts to use this stretch of the road until the waters subside. This also means that it is currently impossible to drive between Beira and Maputo.
The level of the Pungue has continued to rise: at the main measuring station (at the bridge over the river on the Beira- Zimbabwe road), it was measured at 8.78 metres on Sunday, compared with 8.53 metres last Thursday. Flood alert level is seven metres.
Further south, the Buzi river is also in flood, inundating the small town of Goonda, and parts of Buzi town itself. The flood on the Buzi is likely to worsen with increased discharges from the Chicamba dam, on one of the Buzi's main tributaries, the Revue.
In Zambezia province, the road between the provincial capital, Quelimane, and Maganja da Costa district has been reopened, thanks to the installation of a metallic bridge over the Cuni river.
But Zambezia districts on the north bank of the Zambezi - Chinde, Mopeia and Morrumbala - are bracing themselves for further flooding as more surges of water pour down the river from the Kariba and Cahora Bassa dams.
According to Monday's issue of the Maputo daily "Noticias", about 350 people are trapped, without food, on Tolo island, in Mopeia. The government is attempting to use boats to move these people to accommodation centres in safe areas.
On the south bank of the Zambezi, the road from Marromeu district to Beira has now been cut. From Marromeu it is only possible to travel overland as far as Caia, slightly further upstream.
Caia is now operating as the centre for rescue missions throughout the lower and middle Zambezi valley.
