Mozambique floods threaten 50 000
2013-01-22 14:32
Maputo - Mozambique authorities on Tuesday considered the
evacuation of 50 000 people after heavy rainfall in the flood-struck south,
where hundreds died in a major deluge over a decade ago, an UN aid agency said.
The waters have killed 35 people since the start of the rainy
season last October - 13 in January alone - and eight major rivers are above
alert levels.
"The alert level is five metres. Yesterday it reached
six [metres]. If it will go one more metre then it will create a big
problem," said Hanoch Barlevi, local emergency specialist at the United
Nations Children's Fund (Unicef).
"If this scenario happens, the community that is going
to be affected is around 50 000 people," he told AFP.
The southern Africa nation is experiencing the heaviest
rainfall since devastating floods in 2000 killed around 800 people and affected
millions.
According to Barlevi, authorities have since developed
sophisticated disaster management systems, so a repeat of the tragedy is
unlikely.
From Sunday to Monday almost 185mm of rain poured over the
Limpopo river basin in southern province Gaza, where the most vulnerable
communities live.
Rains in neighbouring countries also swelled rivers, and
authorities opened the sluices from two dams in the south to lower dangerous
levels.
Coastal Mozambique is home to nine international river
basins, making it especially vulnerable to flooding. Although the rainfall has
stopped in most areas, the risk of flooding remains high as waters arrive from
further inland.
"Unfortunately there are always consequences from the
entire region and not only in Mozambique. The rain stops but the effects come a
few days later," Barlevi explained.
Mozambique's disaster management teams are set to meet later
on Tuesday to decide on evacuations.
- SAPA
