Impact of the Disaster

Mozambique's National Meteorological Institute reported heavy rain in the centre of the country in the week from 8 to 14 February.

From the end of January, the level of the Zambezi River continued to rise because of local heavy rain in the Zambezi valley, as well as discharge from Kariba dam upstream between Zambia and Zimbabwe, and the flow from the river's tributaries. By 13 February, the water was above flood level in several districts in the lower Zambezi valley.

The release of water from the Cahora Bassa dam on the Zambezi River was increased on 26 February. The river measured 6.91 metres at Tete city (flood level 7 metres) and 6.14 metres at Mutarara (flood level 5 metres). Nevertheless, the offices of the Mozambique Red Cross in Tete city were reported to be under water on 26 February. The maximum level of the Zambezi was registered at Caia on 10 March when 8.14 metres (2.64 above flood level) were measured. The Zambezi remained high throughout March and April and only fell below flood level at all measuring stations by 7 May, except Caia, where it stayed above flood level until 25 May 2001.

The levels of other rivers in central Mozambique fluctuated in the period from January to late April. There was some localised flooding on the Pungoe, Buzi and Save Rivers, with reports of people displaced in Buzi and Nhamatanda districts of Sofala Province and Sussundenga district of Manica province. The road west from Beira to Harare was closed three times between February and April because of flooding on the Pungoe River. The main national highway (EN1) was cut in early February, cutting road communications between the south and centre of the country and creating a logistics bottleneck.

According to the FAO and Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development, 80,000 hectares of crops were lost and 111,300 peasant-farming families were affected.

Displacement increases vulnerability to preventable diseases. Moreover, many of the affected areas were left without access to safe drinking water and sanitation facilities, especially in the Zambezi, Licungo, Pungoe, Buzi and Shire river basins. Rural water and sanitation systems were flooded or in many cases completely washed away.

Estimates by the Ministry of Education indicate that the flooding in the provinces of Zambezia, Tete, Sofala and Manica prevented 130,000 pupils from attending school, just as the school year was beginning, in 392 schools in the four provinces. Failure to ensure that these children have access to learning and schooling in a safe and healthy environment threatens their chances of completing their studies this year, and could lead to high rates of dropout.

In February and early March, many people in the Zambezi valley declined offers of evacuation, despite the rising water. However, as household reserves became exhausted and the floodwaters remained high, larger numbers of people began to move into the temporary accommodation centres in search of assistance. By March 21, it was reported that 500-700 people a day were arriving at the centres. A total of 219,778 displaced people were in 65 temporary accommodation centres in four provinces by 14 May, although the total population affected by the floods numbered 566,491. People have since begun to move out of the centres again to return home or to resettle in areas less at risk, but figures on this process are currently not available because of the failure to establish a functional management information system, a shortcoming repeated from the 2000 emergency operations.

An outbreak of cholera in Tete and Sofala provinces, not in emergency temporary accommodation centres, was quickly brought under control in some districts. However, the outbreak in Nhamatanda district of Sofala province is still cause for concern, with four new cases a day being reported. The Ministry of Health reported on 26 April that 110 cases of cholera were confirmed in Mutarara district and 22 cases at Sena in Caia district. No new cases were reported after 1 May in those two districts.

Because the Zambezi River remained so high for over two months, the displaced population stayed in the camps much longer than in the 1999-2000 emergency. By the end of May 2000, 90% of the displaced population had already returned home. Moreover, Ministry of Health nutritional surveys were conducted inside and outside accommodation centres in selected districts in Sofala, Tete, Zambezia, and in Manica and, in some areas, found high levels of malnutrition among children under five years of age, ranging from 12.3% - 19.9%. In response to the nutritional survey findings, the Ministry of Health recommended that free food distribution through WFP continue to affected populations in accommodation centres and begin in selected areas outside the accommodation centres until the next harvest. In addition, therapeutic feeding centres and targeted supplementary feeding (over 1,000 mt of CSB) for children under five, and pregnant and lactating women were opened.