Save river bursts its banks

Maputo, 14 Jan (AIM) – Mozambique’s relief agency, the National Disasters Management Institute (INGD), has urged people living near the Save river, in the southern province of Inhambane, to move to higher ground in the face of impending floods.

The Save has burst its banks and is threatening to inundate the town of Nova Mambone, capital of Govuro district.

On Wednesday morning, a government brigade headed by the Secretary of State for Inhambane, Bendita Lopes, went to the Nova Mambone neighbourhood of Mussassa, one of the first that will be hit by flooding on the Save, to urge households to move to safer areas.

An accommodation centre has been set up for evacuees in a former boarding home for a local secondary school. Boats are available to move people from the flood prone areas, and food kits have been pre-positioned to support possible victims.

The National Directorate of Water Resources (DNGRH) has warned of a moderate to high risk of flooding in the basins of the Incomati and Buzi rivers. The waters of the Buzi river are likely to flood the roads between Estaquinha and Nova Sofala, and between Guara-Guara and Buzi town.

Further south, the DNGRH adds, the Incomati threatens to inundate farmland in the 25 September and Eduardo Mondlane localities, making tertiary roads in these areas impassable.

In Sofala province, the main north-south highway (EN1) was re-opened to traffic on Monday afternoon after provisional repairs on  a crater opened in the road at the bridge over the Muare river in Machanga district.

But, less than 24 hours later, EN1 was closed again, when the Gorongosa river burst its banks, and flowed across the highway. The National Roads Administration (ANE) issued a statement on Tuesday, saying that it had mobilised technical teams to monitor the situation and to assess the level of damage.

(AIM)

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