Mozambique Not Planning to Seek International Help to Support Victims of the Heavy Floods
Mozambique is not planning to seek international help to support victims of the heavy floods catastrophe which has so far killed at least 36 people and driving about 70,000 away from their homes following days of torrential rains which submerged vast swathes of the country’s south, APA can report.
The spokesperson of the National Institute of Disaster Management (INGC), Rita Almeida said there is internal capacity to deal with the current situation.
"We will see how the situation evolves, we have internal capacity and we are counting on our local partners," Almeida told state-run Mozambique television, TVM on Saturday.
The south and center of the country have been placed on red alert as the African nation braces for renewed storms.
"The situation is almost out of control but we can still manage," Almeida added.
A total of 26 persons have so far died in the worst affected southern province of Gaza alone, with the nationwide death toll at 36," the UN in Mozambique said in a statement on Saturday.
The number of displaced people now stands at 67,995 while nearly 85,000 have been affected by the raging waters in recent days, the UN said.
Humanitarian workers are now racing to provide food and shelter before cholera, malaria, pneumonia and diarrhea grip those left homeless by the floods.
Aid agencies are also rushing to supply three mobile hospital tents, 15,000 mosquito nets and various other provisions.
According to the National Water Directorate, nine rivers in five basins were above alert levels, including the Zambezi and the Limpopo.
In the capital Maputo, several bridges, roads and schools were seriously damaged.
Towns such as Chokwe in the province of Gaza were submerged, with thousands of homes destroyed and key services such as banks, shops, schools and hospitals affected.
The price tag from the flood devastation in the capital alone is expected to be around $30 million, according to UN agencies.
The deluge also wreaked havoc in South Africa where some 15,000 crocodiles escaped after flood gates were opened at a breeding farm in the Limpopo area.
In the worst flooding of 2000/2001, the government was forced to appeal for almost half a billion dollars from the international donor community after floods killed 700 people and left a trail of extensive damage to key economic infrastructure.
Source African Press Agency
African News from NetNewsPublisher.com
Category: Africa
