Maputo — The level of water in the reservoir behind the Cahora Bassa dam in Mozambique's Tete province has fallen to just 26 per cent of its capacity, the lowest level in 30 years, according to a report in the independent television station, STV.

The National Directorate of Water Resource Management has warned that the situation is critical, and if the level of the reservoir remains low, it might compromise the capacity of Cahora Bassa to generate electricity.

Hydrologist Agostinho Vlanculos told STV "The level of water at Cahora Bassa is extremely low. We haven't had a situation like this for 30 years. The reservoir is at 26 per cent of capacity. At the same time last year, it was 78 per cent full'.

The situation at Cahora Bassa, however, is much better than that at the Kariba dam, which provides much of the electricity for Zambia and Zimbabwe. The Kariba lake is just three per cent full, leading to an energy crisis.

The drought in the Zambezi basin has been blamed on the El Nino weather phenomenon. This is the anomalous warming of the surface waters of areas in the Pacific Ocean, which often results in dry conditions in southern Africa.

But right now, northern Mozambique is receiving much more water than desired. Tropical cyclone Chido made landfall on Sunday morning in Mecufi district, in Cabo Delgado province, bringing torrential rain and winds of up to 200 kilometres an hour.

The cyclone is losing strength rapidly as it moves inland. By 10.00 the wind speed was down to about 85 kilometres an hours.

Chido is continuing to head west, and will hit Malawi before it re-enters Mozambique in Tete province.