Maputo, Mozambique — The confirmed death toll from the floods in central Mozambique now stands at 84, Prime Minister Pascoal Mocumbi told parliament in Maputo Tuesday.

Speaking at the start of a three-day question and answer session between the parliament and the government, Mocumbi said that 42,000 hectares of crops were lost, affecting the livelihood of 60,000 households, during the flooding.

The floods have forced the temporary closure of 183 primary schools, disrupting the education of 52,500 pupils. Health units, bridges and wells have also been destroyed or damaged. Mocumbi put no figure on these losses.

In its response to the floods "the government prioritised immediate aid to the people affected in order to save lives by organising and supplying them with accommodation centres," he said.

Boats or helicopters rescued more than 3,000 people from the flooded river valleys. Most displaced people, however, made their own way to the accommodation centres since, according to the data given by Mocumbi, these number 240,000 people.

Mocumbi praised "the priceless support and solidarity of our international partners, without which the catastrophe would have been worse, and many more lives would have been lost."

Now that the rainy season was ending, the government would direct its efforts to resettling the people "in their home areas where possible, or in other, safer areas, appropriate to the resumption of normal life," he added.

The top priority would be to supply the households with seeds and agricultural tools "so that the cycle of production can be resumed," he said.