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Floods kill 4 in central Mozambique

Xinhua, January 14, 2015 Adjust font size:

At least four people died from floods hitting the central Mozambican province of Zambezia which has seen heavy rainfall for more than two weeks.

According to the Mozambican Television on Monday, the waters from the Licungo River in Mocuba district of the province have flooded the bridge above it, stranding hundreds of vehicles on both sides. Provincial authorities have ordered the interruption of traffic.

People have been warned by the police not to cross the bridge. The law-enforcement agents are at the scene to prevent anyone from crossing it.

This situation is also faced at Lugela River in the same province. Fury waters have flooded along the river banks, destroying planted land.

According to Radio Mozambique, four people have died since the calamities begun in Zambezia. The provincial authorities are urging people living along the river banks to evacuate.

The Mozambican government's Disaster Management Technical Council (CTGC) says it has activated an "Institutional Orange Alert" across the country, in light of continued heavy rains and the danger of serious flooding.

With the Zambezia deaths, the number of the dead from floods nationwide now stands at 12. On Thursday, the CTGC announced that eight people had died in the calamities the northern port city of Nacala.

Rita Almeida, the spokesperson of the national relief body National Disaster Management Institute (INGC), said the Nacala deaths were caused by lightning strikes and the collapse of a wall.

The number of houses destroyed or damaged in Nacala stands at nearly 3,000. Taking the country as a whole, the number of households affected by the torrential rains were more than 9,500.

Most of these were people living in houses in the capital city of Maputo and the neighboring city of Matola which had been flooded during thunderstorms since the end of 2014.

"The INGC is positioning boats in Sofala and Zambezia provinces, to be used in search and rescue missions in the event of severe flooding. There are 300 boats, 107 of them under government management will be activated if necessary", said Almeida in a telephone interview on Monday.

The remaining boats, she said, are owned by cooperation partners.

The National Meteorology Institute (INAM) has warned that in the coming week rainfall of up to 300 millimeters could fall along the northern coast (the coastal strip of Zambezia, Nampula and Cabo Delgado provinces), and in the interior of Niassa, Nampula and Tete provinces. Endi