Rising Zambezi inundates island villages

Around 2,500 people who fled flooding on the islands of Nhanhe and Rezenda in the Zambezi river in central Mozambique are reported to be living in precarious conditions. Chris McIvor, Programme Director of Save the Children (UK) in Mozambique, who is currently visiting the families relocated to Nyambalo and Baf villages, said there was an urgent need for more assistance to the communities, especially those relocated in Baf. "We are concerned about cholera, especially because there are already a number of cholera cases in the district," said McIvor. "If cholera takes hold here, it could spread very quickly among the families." The villagers were forced to flee after the Zambezi, Mozambique's largest river, washed over the islands on 17 January. "The families fled in their canoes, leaving behind most of their possessions, including cooking utensils. Many of them are resorting to eating and cooking in unhygienic conditions," noted McIvor. The World Food Programme has distributed emergency food supplies and the Mozambique Red Cross has sent tents, but the needs far outweigh current relief efforts. "There are up to 30 people squashed into one tent, some of them leaking water. The families are short of blankets for sleeping and they are being exposed to the elements," said McIvor. According to the Mozambique News Agency, in the neighbouring district of Marromeu, further downstream, all 11 islands in the river were inundated, forcing villagers to move to emergency accommodation centres. Apart from losing homes and possessions, crops have been washed away. The government and aid agencies continue to monitor the situation throughout the country, where an estimated 780,000 people are vulnerable to flooding. February is traditionally one of Mozambique's wettest months. Save the Children UK pre-positioned some 300 emergency kits, consisting of blankets, cooking utensils, sealed water storage containers and water purification tablets in key locations in affected districts in Zambezia, but is now moving them to help the relocated families in neighbouring Sofala province. "Although the government would like these families not to return to the flood-prone islands once the floods subside, it will be difficult to persuade them not to, because the land is very fertile there due to the mud deposits after flooding," said McIvor.