Mozambique: INGD rescues a further1,403 flood victims – AIM

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Mozambique: INGD rescues a further1,403 flood victims – AIM

9:16 CAT | 14 Feb 2023

Photo: Presidente Filipe Nyusi/Facebook

The Mozambican relief agency, the National Disaster Management Institute (INGD) rescued, by late Monday afternoon, a further 1,403 people who were surrounded by flood waters in the districts of Boane, Magude and Moamba, in Maputo province.

This is in addition to the 15,000 or so people taken to safety late last week.

According to INGD data, six more accommodation centres were opened in the districts of Boane (two), Magude (three) and Matola City (one), sheltering a total of 8,679 people.

Meanwhile, the Campoane Accommodation Centre was closed and the families living there were transferred to a new one operating in the Filipe Jacinto Nyusi Secondary School.

At this moment, 116 members of the Mozambican armed forces and 20 volunteer swimmers are on the ground providing support. They are also using 17 boats, two drones and some helicopters flying over neighbourhoods to save people stranded in trees and on rooftops. This follows several days in which no air support at all was available for the rescue operations.

One more death was reported, bringing the total number of known flood deaths to seven and the number of people affected rose to 37,000.

Over 7,000 homes remain flooded. Also affected are 15 health units 15 schools, and 13,000 hectares of various crops.

The Pequenos Libombos dam, on the Umbeluzi river, is no longer in danger of collapse, and the level of the reservoir behind the dam is now dropping.

Attention is now switching from the Umbeluzi to the much larger Incomati River. This river on Sunday burst its banks and spilled onto the country’s main north-south highway (EN1) in the area of the 3rd February village, in Manhica district. It is here that the Incomati has cut EN1 in other major floods of the past few decades, separating the south of the country from the central and northern provinces.

Visiting Manhica, Public Works Minister Carlos Mesquita was confident that the Incomati waters were receding, and that traffic along EN1 will not be interrupted.

He may have spoken too soon. The situation could change if the Corumana dam, on the Sabie river, the main tributary of the Incomati, is forced to increase its discharges.

Watch the TVM report.