Thousands displaced following heavy rains in Mozambique

About 27,000 people have been marooned in Boane district, about 30 kilometres south of the Mozambique’s capital Maputo following heavy rains in the area, local councilman confirmed Monday.

In a televised address, Mr Jacinto Loureiro added that two bridges at Umbeluzi river and several roads have been cut off, hundreds of houses flooded and crops damaged.

Last week, about 150 inmates were transferred from Guinjá to Macia prison in Gaza province, 6,396 kilometres north from the capital Maputo after the Limpopo river flooded.

Limpopo river, which rises in South Africa and flows generally eastwards through Mozambique to the Indian Ocean, has for three weeks been rising with its water flowing above the alert levels, leading to flooding of farms and destruction of property.

Mozambique is currently facing the rainy season which runs from October to April, with winds coming from the Indic ocean and floods originating from the Southern African hydrographic basins. It sometimes experiences cyclones during this time.

Thousands of people were affected by tropical storms Chalane and Eloise between December and January, affecting more than 36,000 people and official figures put the death toll at 22 while local authorities say it could be higher.

In March and April 2019, cyclones Idai – with its epicentre at the port of the country’s second-largest city, Beira – and Kenneth, hit Mozambique just a few weeks apart.

The two are the worst natural disasters recorded in the country in the last two decades.