via Death toll from floods now 158 – The Zimbabwean 12 February 2015
So far 158 people are known to have died in the storms and floods that have hit central and northern Mozambique this year, according to the official government spokesperson, Deputy Health Minister Mouzinho Saide.
In addition, cholera outbreaks in parts of Nampula, Niassa and Tete provinces have claimed 19 lives.
Summarising the impact of the floods at a press briefing on Tuesday, following the weekly meeting of the Council of Ministers (Cabinet), Saide that about 177,000 people had been affected. 654 schools, seven health units and around 100 places of worship were destroyed.
The flood waters are now retreating. “The level of the waters is now falling in the Zambezi basin”, said Saide. “There is also a decline in the level in the Licungo basin (in Zambezia province), but areas there are still flooded, In the Rovuma basin (on the border with Tanzania), the level is rising slightly”.
The river basins south of the Zambezi are currently all below flood alert level, and are giving no grounds for concern.
In Niassa province, the government has closed the nine temporary accommodation centres established for the flood victims. A further nine centres in Morrumbala district, in Zambezia, have also been closed. The people who were living in these centres have been moved to definitive resettlement sites.
Here plots of land are being demarcated where people can build their new homes, and the government is distributing shelter kits, mosquito nets and other relief goods – including school material so that children in the families affected can resume their studies.
The two helicopters provided by the South African armed forces have returned home, their mission accomplished. Five other aircraft and ten boats remain in the flood-hit areas, helping in the movement of people and the distribution of aid.
As for the cholera outbreaks, Saide said that 1,671 cases have been confirmed in Niassa, Nampula and Tete, 19 of whom have died. In Nampula there were 800 cases, but only one death. Niassa recorded 254 cases and six deaths, and in Tete there were 577 cases and 12 deaths.
Saide said the cholera situation is being monitored on a daily basis. Groups have been set up, with staff from various government sectors, to improve sanitation, purify drinking water, and disinfect the houses of cholera victims.
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