Johannesburg — Along Mozambique's flooded Zambezi valley, attention is turning to the giant Cahora Bassa dam in the northwest of the country which is already close to capacity and may be forced to release more water, WFP spokesman Inyene Udoyen told IRIN on Monday.
Four sluice gates on the dam are discharging water at a rate of 7,500 cubic metres a second, but the inflow into Cahora Bassa from upstream is almost double that. "Everybody is waiting to see what will happen," Udoyen said. "They are going to have to open [more] sluice gates."
Some 43,500 people are affected by the floods in northwestern Tete province, according to the government's disaster management authority the INGC. Rescue operations are underway in the central district of Morromeu to evacuate between 8,000 to 10,000 people, news reports said. Luabo, a low lying town further downstream from the dam is also under threat. In the south of the country, the Save river is also rising following weeks of heavy rains.
"Our major concern is Marromeu and Luabo where there are around 80,000 people. This is a very low-lying area," INGC director Silvano Langa told Reuters. "We have already started evacuation using the little resources we have. If you take into account that the water is still coming from Cahora Bassa and if it continues at this speed, it may give us four to five days."
Torrential rains and floods have affected 400,000 people and displaced an estimated 70,000 in the provinces of Zambezia, Sofala, Tete and Manica. At least 41 people have died. A South African reconnaissance team was expected in Mozambique on Tuesday to assess the country's emergency needs. A Foreign Affairs spokesman said on Sunday that President Thabo Mbeki had authorised the South African Defence Force (SANDF) to send seven helicopters and three aircraft to Mozambique, along with food and medicine.
"Things are under control but there is a certain sense of anticipation [over the Cahora Bassa dam]," Udoyen said. "Contingency planning has worked pretty well and the government is in the thick of things."
Malawi
Malawian government officials held an emergency meeting on Monday to discuss the floods that have killed five people and driven some 200,000 from their homes during the past week, AFP reported. Antony Livuza, government chief information officer, said the cabinet committee on disaster preparedness, relief and rehabilitation "will work out strategies to mobilise resources and how to transport relief items to the affected areas." Lucius Chikuni, Malawi's government commissioner of relief and rehabilitation, said the country would require about US $1.5 million just for emergency relief to the affected areas in the south.
Meanwhile, at least 3,000 Malawians have crossed into Mozambique in recent days after the Shire river, which border the two countries, burst its banks. WFP in Mozambique said it was trying to reach them with food supplies, but the road to the area was cut.
The latest report by the UN Resident Coordinator in Malawi said that flooding had affected the districts of Nsanje, Chikwawa, Mangochi, Phalombe, and Blantyre in the Southern Region, Salima and Nkhotakota in the Central Region, and Karonga and Nkhata Bay in the Northern Region. The Department of Disaster Preparedness, Relief and Rehabilitation (DDPRR) estimated that some 194,000 people (36,520 households) have been affected. "Lack of access to the affected areas due to damages to roads and bridges has been hindering the government, district authorities, the UN agencies and NGOs to obtain a complete picture of the situation," the report said.
Nsanje District: Many parts of the district are completely submerged and isolated from the rest of the country. The displaced families sought refuge with relatives on higher ground. Five thousand people have been accommodated in public buildings, including schools and churches. "Lack of adequate sanitation facilities is a concern," the report said.
Chikwawa District: A WFP team is assisting the district authorities in assessing the situation. The team reported that 67 villages in different parts of the district have been affected. Over 10,000 houses have collapsed and 3,769 farm families in 35 villages have lost their crops.
In the Central Region, the districts of Salima and Nkhotakota are affected so far, "while there might be a few pockets of disaster-affected areas in other parts of the Region," the report noted.
