United Nations, Jan 21: Heavy rains have inundated a swath of southern Africa, forcing more than 50,000 people to flee their homes in Mozambique alone, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) singled out the town of Xai-Xai, near the Limpopo River and the capital of Gaza province, as the heaviest hit in Mozambique.
“Authorities have also issued alerts for downtown Xai-Xai, including warnings of the risk of crocodiles appearing in flooded areas,” OCHA said.
The office said many roads remain inaccessible. The UN and its partners are considering using sea routes between the country’s capital, Maputo, and the small port of Inhambane, which is closer to most affected areas.
OCHA said the UN and its partners, working in support of the government, are scaling up life-saving assistance, while assessments continue in hard-to-reach areas. More support is arriving, including for search-and-rescue, coordination, information management and logistics.
“This flooding emergency comes on top of massive conflict-related displacement in the north of the country that has depleted humanitarian stocks,” OCHA said. “As the rains are likely to continue in the coming week, the risks of flooding will remain. It will take time for dam levels to reduce, floodwaters to recede and soil to stabilize enough to reopen roads.”
The office said the latest disaster to hit Mozambique is a stark reminder of the country’s vulnerability to multiple, overlapping shocks, including conflict, drought, repeated cyclones and severe flooding.
“These converging crises continue to strain communities and our capacity to respond,” OCHA said, adding that “additional funding to sustain and scale up the humanitarian response is urgently needed.”
The office said 348 million U.S. dollars in aid is needed this year to support more than 1 million people in Mozambique.