Johannesburg — The UN in Mozambique is appealing for US $10.7 million to help the country deal with the recent floods, which have so far affected an estimated 400,000 people.
"The objective of the United Nations Inter-Agency Appeal is to raise funds for the immediate emergency relief for people affected by floods in Mozambique," the UN said in its appeal document. "The appeal concentrates on providing emergency relief to the most vulnerable, particularly those left homeless and destitute. It covers the needs for immediate emergency humanitarian relief and prevention of secondary problems in health, water, sanitation, food and shelter."
The UN said US $2.4 million was needed for health care, US $1.8 million for water and sanitation needs, US $200,000 for shelter, US $2.4 million for food and agriculture and US $514,000 for education. It added that a further US $2.6 million was needed for transport and logistics and US $684,000 for coordination purposes.
Meanwhile, Mozambican radio said on Thursday that the authorities in the central Mozambican province of Sofala had banned night traffic on a flooded stretch of the Beira-Zimbabwe highway. The administrator of Nhamatanda district, Joaquim Manuel, was quoted by the Maputo daily 'Noticias', as saying that if the level of the Pungoe river rose much more, the road could be cut completely. "This would make road traffic from Beira west to Zimbabwe, and south to Maputo, impossible," Manuel said. Further north, reports said that the level of the Zambezi river was continuing to rise.
The Mozambican government said on Thursday that an estimated 50,000 people were still at risk and there were fears that flooding along the Zambezi river could worsen if the rains continued. On Monday the authorities at the Cahora Bassa Dam were forced to release more water, placing more people at risk further downstream.
Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said on Thursday that an estimated 200,000 people in the north were isolated and at risk of malaria. Gorik Ooms, MSF head of mission in Mozambique, was quoted in news reports as saying that the situation could result in many deaths, particularly among children, as malaria rose dramatically during the rainy season. MSF also announced it would send a cargo plane of medicines and equipment such as water pumps and tents from Oostende in Belgium to Mozambique in the coming days.
