Thousands of flood victims stranded in central Mozambique

Nearly 40,000 people affected by floods in the central province of Zambezia are living in accommodation centers set up by the government, according to the country's State Administration and Public Service Minister, Carmelita Namachulua on Friday.

Namachulua said that the government has set up 44 centers to accommodate the more than 200,000 people who lost their homes and those who were rescued from flood-prone areas.

The catastrophe has now killed at least 90 people nationwide. The country's civil society, on Friday met with the National Disasters Management Institute (INGC) in the capital city of Maputo to express its solidarity and support to the affected families by the flooding in the central and northern regions of the country.

At the gathering, the civil society organizations said that they have been mobilizing support for the victims. In a campaign already under way, the civil society organizations are collecting clothes, foodstuffs, soap, school materials, among other items.

INGC's executive director, Casimiro Abreu, said at the meeting that his institution needs the support from the civil society and other organizations to be sent to accommodation centers of the victims.

The country's new Prime Minister Carlos do Rosario, who is touring the affected areas since Thursday, called for humanitarian assistance for the flood sufferers.

The fury waters have destroyed various infrastructures, including schools, roads, bridges, health units and others in Zambezia, Sofala, and the northern provinces of Nampula, Cabo Delgado and Niassa.

The down-pours have been falling since last month in the southern African nation. Mozambique is a flood-prone country, and faces floods every year.

The worst-hit year was in 2000, when 700 people were killed and thousands of others were affected. Endi