RSOE Emergency and Disaster Information Service

Situation Update No. 2

Posted:2010-03-03, 17:35:10 [UTC]

Ref.no.: FL-20100303-25189-MOZ

Situation Update No. 2
On 2010-03-08 at 19:46:09 [UTC]

Event: Flood
Location: Mozambique Province of Sofala Zambezi River areas

Number of Deads: 2 person(s)
Number of Evacuated: 900 person(s)

Mozambique's authorities have reinforced rescue operations in the central province of Sofala, where hundreds of families have been evacuated from areas hit by seasonal floods that have killed at least two people, local media reported on Monday. Heavy rains have been battering the region for days, causing the Pungue river to burst its banks last week, flooding a stretch of road between central Mozambique and Zimbabwe to the west. While some trucks continue to ply the flooded 10-kilometre stretch of road near the port city of Beira, smaller cars are being ferried across by freight train as the river rises 2.3 metres above flood alert levels, O Pais newspaper reported. Two people have been reported killed so far after being swept away by the floodwaters. One was reported to have been eaten by a crocodile. A spokesman for Mozambique's National Disaster Management Institute (INGC) said the agency has sent extra rescue workers and boats to the area to rescue people from swamped islets in the river. At least 2,000 people living along the river bank have been moved to relocation camps on higher ground, where they are receiving food and medical assistance. Each year, Mozambique suffers severe floods when the multiple rivers that cross the country en route to the Indian Ocean swell with rain and burst their banks. The rains have nudged up levels in the Cahora Bassa, a major dam on the mighty Zambezi river, which is also running high. The dam authorities have increased the discharge from the dam to ease pressure on the dam walls.