Mozambique - Mozambican authorities said yesterday they had begun evacuating 80,000 people threatened by fresh floods in central parts of the country as more water is released from the Cahora Bassa reservoir.
The World Food Programme also said that 30,000 people were at risk further south where the Save River had burst its banks.
Last year's devastating floods killed 700 people and left more than 500,000 homeless, prompting one of the biggest rescue missions in southern Africa.
Mr Silvano Langa, the director of Mozambique's National Institute for Disaster Management, said rescuers had four to five days before a fresh wave of water hits the towns of Marromeu and Luabo downstream from the Cahora Bassa dam. "Our major concern is Marromeu and Luabo where there are around 80,000 people. This is a very low-lying area."
Cahora Bassa, the country's largest dam on the Zambezi river, is nearing full capacity with the water level now close to its critical height of 326 metres.
"That is why they keep increasing the discharge in order to prevent any further damage to the dam infrastructure," said Mr Langa.
He said one army helicopter was working in the danger area and another would be deployed soon.