More rains, floods

Heavy rains and flooding in Sofala province has cut part of the road linking the coastal city of Beira and Chimoio to the west, a spokeswoman in the UN Resident Coordinator's Office (UNRCO) told IRIN on Tuesday. Francis Christie said that contrary to news reports the train in the Beira corridor linking Mozambique and Zimbabwe was still running and that the road from Dondo, just outside of Beira, to Caia in the Zambezi valley was still passable with a four-wheel drive. "WFP has confirmed that eight trucks sent with relief supplies from Beira to Caia have arrived in Caia," Christie said. News reports on Tuesday said that Beira had been off from the rest of the region and that the road to Dondo had been flooded. Christie said that although the Kariba Dam sluice gates on the Zambezi river in Zimbabwe had been opened, the governments of Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique had agreed that the flow would be reduced. She added that the Cahora Bassa Dam was currently discharging about 3,800 cubic meters per second. "A decision on opening the Cahora Bassa gates further is yet to be announced," Christie said. She said that an estimated 8,000 people had already been evacuated by the Mozambican navy from areas at risk in the Zambezi valley. She said that there were 5,285 displaced people registered at accommodation centres in Mutarara district in the northern Tete province. "Part of the Mutarara district has been flooded around the confluence of the Zambezi and Chire rivers. In Caia district on the south bank of the Zambezi in Sofala province 1,200 people have temporarily sought shelter in an accommodation centre. A further 3,200 are reported displaced in the district," Christie said. Christie said that fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, funded by USAID and DIFID had been transporting food and non-food relief items to Queilimane the capital of Zambeze province and Caia in Sofala province. She added that Caia was to be the centre for relief operations in the Zambezi valley. WFP was currently providing food aid and UNICEF had pre-positioned water supplies, sanitation and shelter materials, Christie noted. Christie said that flood warnings had already been given to people near the Save valley in the south to move from areas of risk, and that many people had already heeded the warnings. Meanwhile, in Zambia Deputy Information Minister, Fidelis Mondo said that an estimated 15,000 people had been left homeless after their homes were flooded. "The situation is desperate. Out of the population of 30,000 people in Luangwa almost half have been displaced by floods," said Mondo. Luangwa is near the border with Mozambique's Tete province. Mondo added that vehicles could no longer travel to Luangwa and that the government had been prevented from delivering relief supplies.