Zambia braces for more floods

2008-02-04 18:16

Lusaka - Zambia braced for more rain and started evacuating people from the banks of three major rivers after heavy flooding last month and said it may open the spillway of its massive Kariba Dam to prevent its collapse.

The Zambezi River Authority said in a statement the gates "may be opened at any time if the need arises". The dam is the main power generation point for Zambia and Zimbabwe and supplies some electricity to Botswana, Namibia and South Africa.

The government said hundreds of villagers will remain homeless if authorities decide to open the spillway gates of the dam - one of the world's largest - to prevent its walls from cracking. Doing so could affect power generation.

The government said it had started evacuating people living on the banks of three major rivers already battered by regional floods which have killed dozens and left thousands homeless in Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi.

So far floods have killed six people in southern Zambia.

The financial costs could also be high. Kariba Dam supplies power to Zambia's Copperbelt, its industrial base and the economy's lifeblood.

Zambian state television showed footage of police picking up a sixth flooding victim from the Maramba stream in Livingstone.

Officials said the spillway gates of another dam, the Itezhi-Tezhi, may also be opened, possibly displacing thousands of villagers living along the banks of the Kafue, Luangwa and Zambezi rivers.

"Further outlook indicates that more rains are expected in the future, especially during February/March, which is the peak period," said the Zambezi River Authority.

Vice President Rupiah Banda said on state television that government officials had started telling people living along riverbanks to abandon their homes.

Banda said the government was also preparing relief operations as most maize fields in eastern Zambia were expected to be washed away by floodwaters from dams.

"We are moving tents to people that will need them and we will provide relief maize because some people will lose their maize when the spillway gates are opened," Banda said.

In 2005, The Zambezi River Authority opened spillway gates at Kariba North Bank power station on the Zambezi River, causing severe flooding in eastern Zambia and parts of Mozambique.

- Reuters