Mozambique/Flooding: worst is yet to come

Maputo(AIM) - Some 25,000 people have so far been displaced from their homes by heavy rains and flooding in central Mozambique, but the situation could easily worsen if the rains continue throughout early February, warned the director of the National Disasters Management Institute (INGC), Silvano Langa, at a Maputo press briefing on Friday.

At the moment the worst hit province is Zambezia, thanks to the tropical storm of 23-25 January. This storm dumped 119 millimetres of rain on coastal Zambezia in the space of 24 hours.

"Any fall of 100 millimetres or more of rain within a day is a cause for concern anywhere in the world", said Langa.

Houses built of flimsy materials had collapsed, many roads were blocked, and small bridges had been washed away. What are usually small rivers - the rivers Namacurra, Milele and Niopede - had become raging torrents.

(AIM)

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