Mozambique grapples with floods that 'killed dozens' in Zimbabwe

Jan 2, 2008, 13:34 GMT

Maputo/Harare - Hundreds of families in central Mozambique have been cut off from the outside world for nearly a week by the flooding which has reportedly claimed dozens of lives in neighbouring Zimbabwe, Mozambique's state radio reported Wednesday.

Over 1,000 families in central Manica province on the border with Zimbabwe had been cut off since December 27 after heavy rains washed away roads and bridges, state radio reported Wednesday, Radio Mozambique said.

The governor of Manica province, Maurice Viera, told the radio around 900 families had been displaced by the flooding, which had destroyed vast tracts of land planted with crops.

Record heavy rains in Zimbabwe have contributed to the swelling of the Pungue, Save and Buzi rivers, which rise in eastern Zimbabwe and flow through central Mozambique, leading to official calls for residents to evacuate.

The Zambezi river, Africa's fourth-longest which periodically bursts its banks during the annual rainy season in Mozambique, was also reported to have risen close to danger levels.

Economically-battered Zimbabwe has borne the brunt of the bad weather so far.

The death toll at the end of the wettest December on record in Zimbabwe stood at 27 late last week, the state-run Herald newspaper reported.

A further 600 families were reported to have lost their homes as villages in remote areas were swept away by the floodwaters.

The situation prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) in Harare to warn earlier this week of an increased risk of malaria in southern Africa.