Flood appeal brings in US $11 million

The international community has disbursed some US $11 million so far in response to the Mozambican government's appeal for aid intended for the flood victims in the country's central regions, AIM reported on Friday. In February the government estimated it would need about US $36.5 million for flood victims in the provinces of Manica, Sofala, Tete and Zambezia, and for the repair of essential infrastructure. Speaking at a Maputo press conference on Friday, director of the National Disaster Management Institute (INGC), Silvano Langa, said the cash was flowing in. Money pledged last May at the Rome donor conference in the aftermath of the floods of February 2000 was also being channelled in, he said. Meanwhile, the situation in the Zambezi valley was improving, Langa added, mainly because the Kariba dam, which is jointly managed by Zambia and Zimbabwe, had only been discharging water from two of its floodgates since last Tuesday. Until then it had four floodgates open. He said, however, that the real impact would only be felt throughout the Zambezi valley some time this week. The Cabora Bassa dam in Mozambique's Tete province had also reduced its discharge - from 8,420 cubic metres per second last Tuesday to 7,371 last Thursday, he said. Four of the eight Cabora Bassa floodgates were open or partly open, he added. Relief operations, meanwhile, are continuing. Langa said that the Mozambiquan navy evacuated more than 300 people from dangerous areas in Marromeu and Chinde districts, near the river delta, to higher ground on Thursday and that foodstuffs were still being ferried to flood victims in government-run accommodation centres by aircraft and boats. The road from Beira to Caia, on the south bank of the Zambezi, had been re-opened, he said, meaning that most relief aid could be transported by land at least as far as Caia town, where the emergency operational headquarters were located. From there foodstuffs would continue to be transported by air or by boat, he said, adding that this was a handicap since aircraft and boats could only transport small quantities. In its weekly situation report released on Friday, OCHA said that water levels in the Zambezi River had been fluctuating, but stabilising. The level of the Pungoe River had risen again, cutting the road linking Beira to Zimbabwe once more. The level of the Save River dropped to 4.01 m on 14 March, which was still high, but considered normal for this time of the year, the report said. It added that Mozambique's Minister of Foreign Affairs had convened a meeting with the diplomatic corps in Maputo on 15 March, urging donors to assist with projects and programmes to reduce the impact of future natural disasters, namely floods and drought, in Mozambique. The minister appealed for support with regards to dams, dykes and platforms over the next few years as preventive measures and also presented to donors a project aiming at strengthening the INGC disaster management capacity.