Tens of thousands homeless as flood waters rise in Mozambique
Flood waters are continuing to rise in Mozambique, forcing thousands of families to leave their homes to look for refuge in emergency camps. 50,000 people, around half of them children, have already been displaced.
Sunday 13 January 2008
A Save the Children assessment has reported that families are arriving in resettlement camps. They are carrying their belongings and enough food for about 2-3 weeks. But with most of the farm land now under water a shortage of food could soon become a problem.
Reports from Caia, from where the relief operation is being co-ordinated, indicate that thousands of people are on river banks and 'islands', and countless houses are under water. People are wading along submerged roads.
With further heavy rains forecast, the situation is likely to deteriorate, and prolonged flooding lasting for ten weeks or more is predicted. It is likely that these will be the biggest floods to hit Mozambique in recent years. Most severely affected is the Zambezi Basin, where flooding has been caused by heavy rains in Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Relief effort
"We know that what children will need most urgently is shelter, clean water to drink and enough food to eat," said Chris McIvor, Save the Children UK's programme director in Mozambique, "and we are working to keep their lives as normal and as safe as possible."
Save the Children is distributing household kits to evacuated families. Each kit contains basic necessities for five people, including blankets, eating utensils, soap, water purifiers, rope and plastic sheeting. Save the Children is also working with local authorities to ensure that children displaced by the floods are kept safe, and is providing school tents where possible, in time for the start of the school term in two weeks.
At the main resettlement camp in Mopeia district, Zambezia, there are eight teachers but no school, as the existing school tent is in tatters. Save the Children is delivering two tents to the camp. 505 families were living here at the last count, and more are arriving.
The government of Mozambique has called a Red Alert. The National Institute for Natural Disasters (INGC) has held an extraordinary meeting with the governors of the provinces of Zambezia, Tete, Manica, Sofala and Inhambane.
Returning to high risk areas
A Save the Children study in December 2007 revealed those who lost their homes in last year's floods are still suffering. Many of those affected were victims of the serious floods of February and March last year, who had returned to flood prone areas to cultivate the more fertile land by the river. A quarter of a million people were affected by the floods in 2007, with between 100-150,000 displaced.
They had enough food only for a few weeks. They had not recovered the means of earning a living, many having lost their fishing nets and livestock in the floods. Children were dropping out of school, and malnutrition in young children was very high.
According to Chris McIvor, people returned to areas under threat of flood because they had no other viable option.
"The land next to the river is much more fertile than the higher ground," he said. "Historically, the Zambezi has flooded once every four years or so. Farmers know the land by the river will flood, but they reason it is worth it for three years of good harvest. Unfortunately, it looks like we are now having two years of flooding in a row.
"We have long-term projects to improve the self-sufficiency and choice of people in these areas, but we will have to put them on hold until this emergency is over."
Worse than 2007?
The flow of water into the Zambezi is considerably higher now than at the same time last year, prompting fears that this year's floods will be bigger than in 2007.
The Cabora Bassa dam, which is upstream of the flooded areas, is currently discharging 6,600 cubic metres of water per second into the river, compared with just over 5000 this time last year. The flow into the dam is higher still, at 7,600 cubic metres per second. With more heavy rain predicted in the coming weeks there is a high chance that this year's floods will be the worst seen in recent years.
It is likely, though, that the effects of the floods will be offset by the recent experiences of the local people.
"Many families still have bases on higher ground, which they used last year," said Chris McIvor. "Although large numbers are affected we think there will be steady movement rather than panic. But they will need help."
Other areas at risk
At the moment the Zambezi Valley is the most acutely affected, but other areas in Mozambique are also on high alert.
To the south, the Save, Buzi and Pungue rivers are swelling. Because they are smaller rivers than the Zambezi, their levels can rise and fall more rapidly and with more rains forecast they remain a concern. Hundreds of thousands more people will be affected if they flood.
To the north, the Chire river is above alert levels, as large quantities of water flow south from Malawi.
-ENDS-
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