Mozambique: INGC asks govt to issue red alert over floods in northern and central regions

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Mozambique: INGC asks govt to issue red alert over floods in northern and central regions

2:13 CAT | 12 Mar 2019

Photo: Lusa

The National Institute for Disaster Management (INGC) is calling on the government to activate the red alert status in the north and centre of Mozambique, following bad weather in those regions.

The request was made in Maputo on Monday by Carmelita Namashuluwa, Minister of State Administration and Civil Service, at the end of an INGC coordinating council meeting headed by Prime Minister Carlos Agostinho do Rosário.

Minister Namashulua said that the members of the coordinating council approved the proposed red alert, and the council of ministers would formalise it in its Tuesday session. This will involve the maximum mobilisation of all actors on the ground to mobilise, rescue and evacuate those at risk.

Our @CopernicusEMS #RapidMappingTeam is working on flood extent maps for Mozambique and Malawi
As visible in these before/after #Sentinel2 ??? both the Zambezi (in Mozambique) & Shire (in Malawi to the east) rivers have overflowed their banks
Check: https://t.co/bCxJuDYHnA pic.twitter.com/IZYBkHgj5K

— Copernicus EU (@CopernicusEU) March 12, 2019

Meanwhile, the government needs an immediate provision of more than one million meticais to provide multi-faceted assistance to 80,000 families affected by the bad weather in the central part of the country.

This information was advanced yesterday evening in Maputo during the session of the Coordinating Council for Disaster Management, which met to assess the impact of rain and flooding.

Prime Minister Carlos Agostinho do Rosário stressed the need for the government to ensure the safety of people and property, while INGC Director General Augusta Maita reported that 66 people had already died from electric shock during the current rainy season.

Sixteen accommodation centres were created in the central region of the country, 15 in Zambézia and one in Tete.

INAM, the weather bureau, says the situation could deteriorate further in the coming days with the approach of a tropical depression that could severely affect the provinces of Sofala, Zambézia and Manica, where precipitation could reach 150 millimetres in 24 hours.

The Coordinating Council for Disaster Management was attended by the governors of the affected provinces and cooperation partners.

ALSO READ: Floods kill 10 in Mozambique: UN

Source: AIM Moçambique