Maputo, 19 Jan (AIM) – The Mozambican relief agency, the National Disasters Management Institute (INGD) on Sunday used boats and helicopters to rescue 110 people stranded by flood waters in the Limpopo Valley in the southern province of Gaza.
The level of the waters made access by boat difficult, and so the INGD resorted to helicopters to pluck people out of trees, from roof tops or from isolated hills.
One of those rescued was a woman in an advanced stage of pregnancy and apparently about to go into labour. The INGD regional director, Candido Mapute, said the woman was evacuated to the Chonguene district hospital, where she received specialist medical care.
In the rescue operations in Chokwe, Guija and Chibuto districts, the INGD used 14 boats and four helicopters.
Further south, the flood on the Incomati river has kept Maputo isolated from the rest of the country. The waters of the Incomati surged across the main north-south road (EN1) on Sunday, between Incoluane and the 3rd February administrative post, about 100 kilometres north of the capital.
The National Roads Administration (ANE) has teams working to repair the break in the road, but have been hampered by the continuing rain. The ANE was unable to get the traffic flowing again on Sunday, and had to tell motorists stranded on EN1, that they would have to spend the night in their vehicles.
Meanwhile, President Daniel Chapo has cancelled his scheduled visit to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He announced on Sunday that he has decided to stay in Mozambique to oversee the flood relief operations.
“Mozambique is living through a difficult moment”, declared a statement from Chapo’s office. “As President of the Republic, my place is with our people. We maintain our commitment to investment and to our international partners, but right now the absolute priority is to save lives”.
(AIM)
Pf/ (321)
