Floods: 'Worse to come'

2008-01-15 19:18

Geneva - The United Nations warned on Tuesday of the worsening situation in flood-affected parts of southern Africa as more rain was expected in Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi over the next 24 hours.

In Geneva, the UN children's agency UNICEF launched an emergency appeal for almost $2.5m for Malawi where more than a million people out of the 13-million strong population face food shortages.

Five deaths and more than 430 cases of cholera have been reported so far across seven districts. The threat of increased malnutrition among children was high in Malawi, one of the world's poorest countries.

Rising waters had cut the main corridor for the transportation of food and fuel through Mozambique to Malawi.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in Mozambique the levels in four main rivers, including the Zambezi and the Pungue would continue to rise in the coming days.

The Cahora Bassa dam was still discharging more than 6 000 cubic metres of water a second into the Zambezi, forcing further evacuations. Around 72 000 people were affected so far including 30 000 evacuees, with some likely to be forced to move again to even higher ground.

Sapa-dpa

- SAPA