Over 10,000 households affected by floods in Maputo City

Maputo, 21 Jan (AIM) – The authorities have announced that the floods that have engulfed much of southern and central Mozambique have affected 10,400 households, corresponding to over 50,000 people, in Maputo City.

According to Vicente Joaquim, the Secretary of State for Maputo City, speaking to reporters on Tuesday, as part of the immediate response measures, several temporary accommodation and reception centres have been set up, currently housing around 10,000 people, mainly in the KaMavota and KaMubukwana municipal districts, which are among the areas most severely affected by the floods.

Joaquim explained that the technical teams from the country’s relief agency, the National Disaster Management Institute (INGD), will continue to assess the affected areas in order to carry out a detailed survey of the damage with a view to defining immediate and short-term interventions.

“We are currently mapping the situation and implementing some specific interventions, mainly to respond to families in critical situations. We are now collecting humanitarian aid. In addition to homes, the floods are also affecting social infrastructures”, he said.

“There has been water infiltration in several health facilities and, in some cases, water accumulation on the premises, but pumping work is under way to ensure continued access to healthcare for the population”, he added.
He also said that “educational institutions face similar problems”, a situation that is being monitored by the competent authorities as part of the overall assessment of the damage.

At the same time, said Joaquim, cleaning operations are underway to unblock drainage systems and remove solid waste.

“Teams are on the ground doing everything in their power to save lives, in a context aggravated by scarce resources and inflationary pressure, factors that reduce the response capacity of affected families”, he said.

According to government data, almost 600,000 people have been affected by the catastrophic flooding. Of the 600,000 affected, over 380,00 are in Gaza province. But the true number could be considerably higher since search and rescue operations are continuing to pluck stranded flood victims off rooftops and out of trees.
(AIM)
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