Early season floods devastate large tracts of Mozambique

Mozambique:Relief efforts have been stepped up to help thousands of people displaced by floods in Mozambique, where the waters of the Zambezi and other main rivers continue to rise.

An aid ship has docked in the port of Beira, carrying 3,000 tonnes of food, enough to support 250,000 people for one month. The ship's supplies are being sent for distribution by the World Food Programme to Caia in the central Sofala province, where the main relief effort is being co-ordinated.

Some 34,000 people were rescued from dangerous areas in the Zambezi river area on Saturday, and a further 9,000 people were rescued yesterday. Most were hauled out of isolated islands of dry land in the flooded plains by airborne units of the Mozambican army.

Many parts of Mozambique are prone to flooding during periods of heavy rain in southern Africa, but this year's floods are said to be worse than last year's, which killed 45 people and left 285,000 homeless. Some water levels are only one-metre below the levels recorded during the disastrous floods of 2000-2001, which claimed the lives of over 700.

Irishwoman Lisa Doherty, emergency officer with Unicef in Caia, said the water levels looked set to continue rising.

"We're only at the beginning. The waters of the main rivers are rising, dam discharges from the Cahora Bassa dam will have to continue and we're only in the early days of the rainy season."

Ms Doherty said the Zambesi's waters were already higher than last year, a month earlier in the rainy season.

"Things will definitely get worse and over a more extended period than last year." The floodwaters had swept away roads and bridges, so supplies had to be flown in.

However, she said the relief operation was working well, partly thanks to the fact that emergency supplies were pre-positioned near areas which are prone to flooding. One problem was the floodwaters were affecting areas that were previously thought to be safe.

Malaria was the main health issue, but 15,000 mosquito nets had been distributed.

"The health of the people rescued before has been okay, with no overt signs of malnutrition, but the health of people in the more isolated areas is likely to be worse," Ms Doherty, from Monkstown in Dublin, said .

Radio Mozambique reported yesterday that 10 of 17 towns in the Machanga district, 100km south of the port city of Beira, had been flooded by waters from the Save river. Agricultural land, including rice fields, was under water in the region.

Mopeia district, 225km north of Beira on the lower Zambezi river, had been completely submerged and emergency services had intensified rescue operations in the area.

The floods have so far claimed the lives of six people in Mozambique, four drowned and two were snatched by crocodiles.

Officials have warned of outbreaks of diarrhoea and cholera. Diarrhoea is one of the biggest killers of children in Africa.

Mozambique has so far spent $10 million combating this year's flooding. The country's National Institute of Disaster Management estimates that a further 60,000 people could be at risk from the current floods.