Mozambique: The killing floods

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Mozambique: The killing floods

12:16 CAT | 18 Feb 2020

FILE: Buzi after cyclone Idai [File photo: DW]

The bodies of a teenager and a woman were found floating in the Búzi river, in central Mozambique, over the weekend, following flooding in the region, the provincial secretary of state said on Monday.

The secretary of state for Sofala province, Stela Pinto Zeca, told a press conference yesterday that the 16-year-old girl lived in the district of Búzi, in the central province of Sofala, but the woman’s origin and age are not known.

The floods that have hit the province since Wednesday (12.02) have already caused the removal of 70,070 people – 15,755 families – to accommodation centres or family homes located in safe areas, Zeca says.

“We want to salute the solidarity of the many individuals who are hosting family members and others. Less than 50% of those affected are staying in accommodation centres,” Zeca said. Thirty camps were created to accommodate the victims of the floods, she added.

The damage

The floods in Sofala are affecting Buzi, Nhamatanda, Cheringoma, Gorongosa, Caia and Maríngué districts. Recent numbers suggest that 1,152 reed houses were totally destroyed and 3,136 partially destroyed by the floods, which also affect 3,255 students and 322 teachers from 27 schools.

The storms in Sofala province flooded at least 4,565 hectares of cultivated fields, affecting 3,400 small farmers. Local authorities consider the affected area to be as large as 8,000 hectares.

Mosambik Buzi Nach Zyklon IDAI — *Victims of Cyclone Idai in Buzi, Sofala*

In addition to the floods, the number of victims in the current rainy season is within the forecast in the province’s contingency plan, which projects a number of 150,000 people affected.

“We expected to provide assistance to approximately 150,000 people, and in this case we have only 71,000 people affected, which is still within our contingency plan,” Zeca said. The Secretary of State said there was capacity to provide humanitarian assistance to all victims of floods.

The recent track record

Sofala province was one of those worst affected by Cyclone Idai, which, in March 2019, killed 604 people and affected about 1.5 million people in central Mozambique. About two weeks later, Cyclone Kenneth caused 45 deaths and affected 250,000 people in the northern province of Cabo Delgado.

The current rainy season in Mozambique, from October to April, has already killed 54 people and affected around 65,000, many of whose homes were flooded, according to the National Institute for Disaster Management (INGC).

Source: Deutsche Welle