Floods threaten Southern Africa
March 21st, 2010MAPUTO (AFP) — Several people have died while 70,000 others were displaced by floods in central Mozambique and the situation is expected to worsen till mid-February, the National Institute of Natural Disaster Management (INGC) said Monday.
"The floods have for now claimed several lives, according to an official toll," INGC's deputy director Joao Ribeiro told AFP.
On Sunday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) gave a death toll of 50, a figure which Ribeiro said was overestimated.
Mozambique had as far back as November envisaged a heavy downpour during this raining season and had warned its population, a step which has helped to reduce the number of victims.
More than 70,000 people have been resettled, particularly in schools and other public buildings.
Overall, the southern African country which declared a red alert last January 3, is gearing up to evacuate more than 200,000 people.
In Geneva,the Red Cross and Red Crescent warned Monday that much of southern Africa faces potentially disastrous flooding, while the situation in Mozambique was particularly worrying.
Heavy rains that started last month in parts of Zimbabwe had provoked flooding there, said a statement from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).
That was now spreading to Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland and Zambia, while the large Indian Ocean island of Madagascar, off the Mozambican coast, was also affected.
"The weather forecast for the next seven days is not good with more rain expected, which could last until April," said Peter Rees, head of the IFRC's operations support department.
"If this happens, southern Africa will certainly face major flooding with potentially catastrophic consequences," he added.
Rees called for immediate action to head off the crisis.
The IFRC statement pointed out that Mozambique was still recovering from flooding and then a cyclone in February 2007.
Since late November when the raining season started, the heavy downpour has led to a sharp rise in the levels of rivers Zambezi, Pongue, Buzi and Save.
"Currently the River Zambezi is almost two metres (six feet) high above the warning level," Ribeiro said.
"The forecasts we have indicate that the rains would intensify in the coming weeks, to attain a peak in the second half of February."
Thirty people died, while 80,000 others were rendered homeless as a result of flooding last year.
In 2001 and 2002, torrential rains swept through the former Portuguese colony still undergoing reconstruction after a long period of civil war (1976-1992). More than 700 people were lost to flooding.
More than 3,000 people have been rendered homeless in Zambia, while three people died in Zimbabwe.
The local Red Cross had already sent emergency supplies to to affected regions and in Geneva and the IFRC on Friday released one million Swiss francs (980,000 dollars, 660,000 euros).
The federation will shortly be launching an appeal for funding to help fund operations in the region.
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5h33pHexHmcQE9K7-QDtFp6UfQKxA
UN News Service (New York)
15 January 2008
Over 1 million Malawians are threatened by food shortages over the next three months as weather forecasts predict an enhanced likelihood of flooding in the southern African country, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has warned.
"Consequently, women and children under five will become more exposed to malnutrition and infections as well as to abuse and exploitation," UNICEF said in its latest update on the situation, highlighting its efforts to step up feeding for severely malnourished children and pregnant and lactating women, and prevent cholera and other water-borne diseases.
The UN Country Team recently submitted a request for $5.5 million in emergency UN relief aid, and UNICEF is seeking an additional $2.5 to meet the immediate and medium-term needs of children and women throughout the affected areas for the coming five months.
Some 200,000 women and children under five will need humanitarian assistance in 2008 and the agency called for the two mutually reinforcing causes of insecurity - a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS and chronic poverty - to be addressed in tandem with food aid.
Floods have already displaced tens of thousands of people in neighbouring Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Zambia and the main commercial corridor from central Mozambique to landlocked Malawi has been cut, causing delays in the transportation of food and fuel and leading to a shortage of petrol.
Cholera remains a major threat in Malawi with recurrent outbreaks during the rainy season from November to April and is a major risk factor in flooding due to the possible breakdown of water and sanitation facilities.
Food shortages and malnutrition have a direct effect on individual susceptibility to diseases and thus the level of a possible epidemic will be directly related to people's access to food and safe water, UNICEF warned.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200801160009.html
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