Tens of thousands of missing people are beyond the reach of the rescue operation in Mozambique because of insufficient helicopters and boats, despite promises of millions of dollars in foreign aid in recent days.
A few South African helicopter crews yesterday continued to pluck hundreds of people from flooded towns and villages in Gaza province along the Limpopo river, less than an hour's flight from the capital, Maputo. But there is growing concern about the fate of entire towns near the Save river further north, and the United Nations predicts that a new wave of floods will hit the region within days.
At least 50,000 people are unaccounted for in towns and villages along the Save valley. But with rescue efforts concentrated elsewhere, there is no word of the inhabitants.
Mr Roy Trivedy, director of Save the Children in Mozambique, which is working in two other flooded towns at the mouth of the river, said there was an urgent need for a rescue mission to explore the rest of the region.
"The big question is that those people aren't here, so where are they? Clearly there is a very sizeable number of people unaccounted for. Almost all the people rescued reported seeing people washed away. There is a high likelihood of very high casualties," he said.
"We have two helicopters trying to save several thousand people we already know are stranded. We need more helicopters. The need for more boats and fuel is urgent."
Save the Children is working with 10,000 survivors at the mouth of the Save river. Many are sheltering in trees or on roofs.
"Roughly 85 per cent of the efforts are going into Gaza," said Mr Trivedy. "There may be very good reasons for that because of the numbers of people and the major cities that are affected there. What is going on in Gaza is really terrible, but what's going on in Save is equally terrible and it needs more help."
Mr Jean-Jacques Graisse, the World Food Programme (WFP) director of operations, warned that the situation for thousands was worsening, saying they "increasingly run the risk of illness and starvation if humanitarian assistance is not immediately expanded . . . With more water coming, the disaster could spread much wider."
The WFP has delivered tons of maize to some areas, and aid workers say many survivors are in better condition than might be expected. But there are fears that without access to clean water soon, diseases such as cholera and dysentery could take hold.
The Government has so far allocated €400,000 since the Mozambique flooding disaster began four weeks ago, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ms Liz O'Donnell, told the Dail yesterday.