Moz floods kill 6, 20 000 flee
2008-01-08 07:23
Maputo - Six people died and more than 20 000 others had been displaced by Mozambique's rising waters, the worst since the deadly flooding of 2000 to 2001, said the National Institute of Disaster Management (INGC) on Monday.
"Six people died and more than 20 000 people have been placed in temporary camps," INGC director general Paulo Zucula said.
"We plan to resettle 60 000 people more", he said, adding that the country has not experienced such downpour in six years.
The rainy season began in November and had led to a sharp rise in water levels in the Zambezi, Pungue, Buzi and Save rivers.
Zucula said: "Water stands at six metres above its normal level and if it rises further by a metre, it would be at 2001 level."
Mozambique was often affected by extreme climatic conditions.
In 2001 and 2002, torrential rains swept through the former Portuguese colony still undergoing reconstruction after a long period of civil war (1976-1992). More than 700 people were lost to flooding.
The exceptional downpour had also affected neighbouring Zambia, where more than 3 000 people had been rendered homeless, and in northeast Zimbabwe, where three people died.