World Vision has declared the flooding in central Mozambique a "category 1" emergency and is providing food and survival items to displaced people. Heavy rains along the Zambezi river basin have already killed nearly 30 people and displaced thousands this week. With forecasts calling for more rain, the region is on full alert, and the government of is warning that these could be the country's worst floods since 2001, when hundreds were killed and nearly half a million displaced in the same region.
"We are responding in the hard-hit areas of Mutarara, Mopeia and Murumbala with emergency food and survival kits to displaced families," said Joseph Kamara Kihika, World Vision's emergency response director in Mozambique. "World Vision is also involved in searching for those who are trapped by the floodwaters and ferrying them to higher ground."
World Vision Mozambique has been working with government authorities, the World Food Program, and other aid agencies to respond to the developing crisis.
"Today, we distributed emergency food to nearly 1,800 people in Mutarara, but more food is urgently needed," said Kihika. "We estimate that some 20,000 people are in need in Mutarara alone, and that number could reach 50,000 if conditions continue to deteriorate."
Continuing rainfall is making it difficult to deliver survival items to displaced families. Forecasts are warning that rains will persist in the region.
To request an interview with World Vision staff, or for more information, contact Rachel Wolff at 253.815.2072 or rwolff@worldvision.org.
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
