Maputo, 28 Feb (AIM) – The Mozambican government on Tuesday decreed an Orange Alert, allowing it to set in motion a series of measures to assist victims of the flooding that has struck some parts of the northern provinces.
Speaking to reporters after the weekly meeting of the Council of Ministers (Cabinet), the government spokesperson, Deputy Justice Minister Filimao Suaze, said that the country’s relief agency, the National Disaster Management Institute (INGD) will activate operational emergency centres down to district level, including the mobilization of human, material and financial resources to strategic places.
Under Mozambique’s disaster preparation system, an Orange Alert is one step down from a Red Alert, which is the maximum warning.
Suaze said the INGD is stepping up its appeal to the public to abandon flood prone areas and seek higher ground.
There is a sharp climate division in Mozambique. While much of the southern third of the country (Gaza, Inhambane and Maputo provinces) is facing drought conditions, there has been above normal rainfall in the centre and north of the country.
According to the INGD’s figures, 69 people have died in the current rainy season (which began in October). Most of the deaths occurred in the central province of Zambezia, caused by lightning strikes, the collapse of flimsy houses, and drowning.
A further 62 people were injured, and 3,702 houses were destroyed or damaged.
177 classrooms were destroyed in 60 schools, affecting 13,283 pupils and 157 teachers.
Currently, the worst flooding is in Nampula province, where the town of Malema is in danger of being swamped by the rising levels of the Malama, Mutuvaze and Nataleia rivers (which are all part of the Lurio river basin).
The Northern Regional Water Board (ARA-Norte) has issued a warning to all those living near the rivers to move away from flood-prone areas immediately.
Torrential rain has made roads in much of Cabo Delgado province impassable, and villages in the Cabo Delgado district of Mecufi have been inundated by the Megaruma river.
Further south, in Zambezia, the Molocue river has burst its banks, and cut the municipality of Alto Molocue in two. The bridge over the river, linking the commercial and the residential parts of the town, is currently under water.
(AIM)
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