At least 28 people have now lost their lives in recent flooding in Mozambique.
According to a report from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) of 21 January 2020, at least 28 people have died and more than 58,800 have been affected by heavy rains and flooding in Mozambique, with Zambezia, Cabo Delgado and Sofala provinces hardest-hit.
More than 10,200 houses have been damaged or destroyed, including 2,589 completely destroyed, and at least 47 schools have been affected. Thousands of hectares of crops have been damaged or destroyed, less than two months before the planned March harvest.
According to the National Disaster Management Institute (Instituto Nacional de Gestão de Calamidades, INGC), 17,432 people have been affected in Zambezia, 13,169 in Cabo Delgado and 6,328 in Sofala. Other affected areas include Niassa (5,150 affected), Nampula (4,915), Gaza (4,806), Maputo City (2,927), Manica (1,684), Tete (1,480) and Maputo (960).
The UN says that several key bridges have been damaged, including the bridge over the Montepuez River on road N380 in Cabo Delgado, cutting off people in surrounding areas from essential services and assistance.
Furthermore, the Chipembe Dam in Cabo Delgado is now at 100 per cent capacity.
The OCHA report warns that in the last 24 hours, water levels have started to rise across Sofala Province, mainly in Beira City, Buzi and Nhamatanda districts, all of which were affected by Cyclone Idai in March 2019.
