Severe flooding in the Zambezi Valley in Mozambique has forced
more than 120,000 people from their homes, in the last few weeks.The Zambezi River floods regularly and people have their own coping strategies. The reaction to these floods shows a
high degree of preparedness, with no fatalities recorded so far. Following the 2001 floods, the Disasters Management National Institute (INGC) oversaw people moving their houses from the flood
plain to higher ground. As a consequence, nobody has drowned, very few homes are destroyed, but obviously a lot of crops are under water as the flood plain is the most fertile area.More floods on the horizon But disaster officials are closely monitoring a tropical storm, which is due to hit Mozambique on Thursday, moving across from Madagascar, and
with the rains set to continue for another four weeks, the numbers of those displaced could increase.Concern staff and its partners are continuously monitoring the situation and are responding
by distributing food and blankets in the temporary camps set up. One of the school structures Concern built is being used as temporary shelter. Concern is distributing relief items to up
to 4,000 people in the Zambezi Valley. A lot of the relief response is dependent on the rainfall over the next month, the water levels are not increasing at the moment but this may change,
affecting relief efforts.Concern is working closely with the INGC, the organisation coordinating the response, to identify any gaps that need to be filled over the coming weeks. Concern has been working in Mozambique since the end of the civil
war in 1987, concentrating on the areas of Education, HIV&AIDS and District planning.
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
