Heavy rainfall raised water levels in southern Mozambique’s two main rivers, flooding crop land, blocking roads and trapping thousands in their homes, reports Lusa.
By Sunday, over 22,000 people in the district of Chibuto – about 200 kilometres north of the capital, Maputo – were stranded by rising floodwaters, up from 6,000 just two days earlier. The flooding has also inundated 2,000 hectares of cropland, raising fears of food shortages.
Chibuto District Administrator Sérgio Moiane stated that while no fatalities have been reported, the government is distributing water purifiers to prevent the spread of waterborne diseases often linked to contaminated floodwaters.
Teixeira Almeida, a delegate for the National Institute for Disaster Risk Management Reduction (INGD) in Gaza province, told Lusa on Friday that the situation was “under control,” with floodwaters expected to recede within three days. Almeida added that multisectoral teams would conduct a detailed survey beginning Monday and are prepared for rescue operations if required.
[See more: Cyclone Chido slams into Mozambique]
The flooding comes in the middle of Mozambique’s rainy season, which typically runs from October to April. Heavy rainfall, driven by the La Niña weather phenomenon – which began in December – has worsened conditions across southern Africa, with neighboring countries like Botswana, Zimbabwe and South Africa also experiencing significant flooding.
This season has already seen two devastating cyclones. Cyclone Chido struck northern provinces on 14 December, killing at least 120 people and affecting 450,000, while Cyclone Dikeledi hit Nampula on 13 January, leaving 11 dead and displacing 250,000.
According to a report from Relief Web, a resource developed by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), La Niña is expected to last into early 2025. Experts warn that climate change is amplifying the frequency and severity of extreme weather events, leaving Mozambique, one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable nations, increasingly at risk.
