Zambezia province under threat of floods

Mozambican authorities have warned that more than 150,000 people could be affected by floods in three districts of the central Mozambican province of Zambezia, news reports said. The flood threat follows heavy rains upstream in neighbouring Zambia, which prompted the local authorities to open floodgates of the southern Kariba dam.

The district most at risk is Chinde, at the mouth of the Zambezi river, where an estimated 95,000 people could be affected. Other districts are Mopeia and Morrumbala, along the banks of the Zambezi river. The agriculture and rural development provincial directorate in Zambezia said that the floods could destroy a total of 84,000 hectares of planted land - 16,000 hectares in Chinde, 40,000 in Mopeia, and the remaining 28,000 hectares in Morrumbala. On Friday, the government’s national disaster authority warned the people of the three districts to move to safer areas.