Maputo, Mozambique — The international community has so far disbursed some 11 million US dollars in response to the Mozambique's appeal for aid for victims of massive flooding in its central regions, the head of national disaster management said Friday in Maputo.

The director of the National Disaster Management Institute, Silvano Langa confirmed at a press conference that the "cash is flowing in".

Money pledged last May at the Rome donor conference in the aftermath of the floods of February 2000 is also being channelled in, he said.

The Mozambican government appealed in February for some 36.5 million dollars for victims of a new wave of floods in the provinces of Manica, Sofala, Tete and Zambezia and for the repair of damaged essential infrastructure.

The situation in the Zambezi valley is improving, said Langa, thanks mainly to the fact that the Kariba dam, which is jointly managed by Zambia and Zimbabwe, has only been discharging water from two of its floodgates since Tuesday.

However, the real impact will only be felt throughout the Zambezi valley within the next four to five days, he said.

The Cahora Bassa dam in Mozambique's Tete province has also reduced its discharges from 8,420 cubic metres per second on Tuesday to 7,371 on Thursday. Four of the eight Cahora Bassa floodgates are open or partly open.

Meanwhile, relief operations are still underway along the Zambezi valley, where the Mozambican navy on Thursday evacuated over 300 people from dangerous areas in Marromeu and Chinde districts to higher ground.

Foodstuffs are still being ferried to the flood victims in government-run accommodation centres by aircraft and boats, Langa added.