Rains in Manica leave students without classes, patients without assistance – Mozambique

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Rains in Manica leave students without classes, patients without assistance – Mozambique

2:10 CAT | 17 Feb 2017

Lusa (File photo)

At least 40 classrooms and three hospitals have been put out of action by heavy rains in Manica, central Mozambique, since January, with 573 families living out in the open, a government source told Lusa yesterday.

Data from the National Institute for Disaster Management (INGC) in Manica indicate that about 1,000 students are without schooling following the destruction of classrooms, and thousands of people are without medical assistance as a result of the destruction of hospitals in Machaze and Tambara. The collapse of dozens of houses has left thousands homeless, some simply living under trees.

“In relation to collapsed houses, schools and hospitals, a government team has been mobilized to carry out a survey,” Cremildo Quembo, INGC spokesman in Manica, told Lusa.

The government, through the INGC, is sending plastic sheets and family shelter kits to assist 1,500 severely affected people, covering close to 300 families out of a total of 573 affected by the bad weather in the region.

In addition to having activated Risk Management Committees to monitor the effects of the disaster, the INGC is ensuring that food supplies and shelter kits are provided to cope with emergencies this rainy season.

In view of Regional Water Management Center (ARA-Centro) warning of the risk of crossing rivers, the INGC has sent a vessel to Dombe in the district of Sussundenga, and is also urging the population to leave flood-prone areas along river courses and not to risk crossing rivers.

“We appeal to people in flood-prone areas to avoid crossing rivers and implement all the preventative measures recommended by the Risk Management Committees; to withdraw from unsafe areas and remove agricultural equipment, and be on the look-out for localized flooding,” the INCG spokesman concluded.

Source: Lusa