Maputo, 21 Jan (AIM) – The known death toll from the storms and floods in Mozambique’s current rainy season now stands at 112, according to a Tuesday report from the relief agency, the National Disasters Management Institute (INGD).
The report, cited by the independent television channel STV, said that a further 99 people had been injured by climate-related factors. The deaths and injuries result from strong winds (which knocked down flimsy buildings), the flooding caused by torrential rains and the sharp rise in the levels of major rivers, lightning discharges, and outbreaks of cholera.
The total number of people affected by the storms and floods, according to the INGD, is 645,781 individuals (or 122,683 households).
INGD Deputy Chairperson, Gabriel Monteiro, told reporters that 68 accommodation centres are currently active. They are sheltering 91,310 people. A further 11 centres were briefly operational, but have now been closed.
In a contact with AIM during search and rescue operations in Magude and Manhica districts, in Maputo province, Monteiro said the rains surpassed the installed capacity in the accommodation centres. This problem was somewhat attenuated by support from neighbouring countries, particularly the loan of helicopters, enabling the rescue teams to pluck flood victims from rooftops and trees.
“We did not forecast rains on this scale”, admitted Monteiro. “We knew there would be normal to above normal rainfall, but not on this scale”.
He believed that a tropical depression that blew in from the Indian Ocean was responsible for the excess rain. “This depression brought a lot of rain – about 200 to 250 millimetres in 24 hours. That’s a lot lof water”, he said.
Matters were made worse by torrents of water racing down the main river valleys from the neighbouring countries, added Monteiro. “The neighbouring countries had to open the floodgates on their dams and let the water through. Inevitably, this water comes to our country. To some extent, this complicates our capacity for immediate response”.
The rainy season will not end until late March, and Monteiro warned of the possibility of cyclones in February. “But we are prepared to face any eventuality”, he claimed.
President Daniel Chapo, speaking at a meeting in Maputo with representatives of private business, said the government’s top priority is to save lives.
“We are at a stage when the floods are still occurring”, he said, “and they are causing enormous damage throughout the country”.
Chapo warned of the danger of outbreaks of disease in the crowded accommodation centres set up to shelter the flood victims.
“Where there are a lot of people in the same place, there can be outbreaks of water-borne diseases such as malaria and cholera”, he said. “People may lose their lives even after they have been rescued”.
According to the Minister of Public Works, Fernando Rafael, the floods have made more than 3,000 kilometres of roads impassable, including sections of the main north-south highway (EN1).
(AIM)
Pf/ (487)
