(Recasts with Zimbabwe floods)
By Nelson Banya
HARARE, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe faces the threat of renewed flooding which has destroyed homes and put new pressure on the country's ailing economy, disaster management authorities said on Wednesday.
Relentless rains have caused floods in the northern Zambezi valley, the low-lying Middle Sabi and central Masvingo province, destroying thousands of houses.
Floods have also damaged Zimbabwe's livestock and crops -- especially the staple maize -- heightening fears of food shortages in a country that has failed to feed itself since 2000, when President Robert Mugabe seized white-owned farms to resettle landless blacks.
"The Zambezi valley region is now under renewed threat of flooding because rivers that normally flow into Cahora (Bassa) are now backflowing," Sibusisiwe Ndlovu, deputy director of Zimbabwe's Civil Protection Unit (CPU), told Reuters.
State media have reported that floods have killed 27 people since the problem began in mid-December but relief officials have not confirmed the figure.
This year heavy downpours in several southern African countries have resulted in swollen floodwaters rushing through Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique and Malawi, killing several people and leaving thousands homeless.
With the rainy season not yet at its peak, Zimbabwe's meteorological services department said more heavy storms were expected over the next few days.
"Significant rains expected over the northern belt of the country, coupled with heavy storms stretching from Angola to the Indian Ocean, are set to compound our flood situation," chief meteorologist Hector Chikoore said.
Zimbabwe is currently grappling with a severe economic crisis and the highest inflation rate in the world, at almost 8,000 percent, as well as shortages of food, fuel and foreign currency. Mugabe has pinned recovery hopes on the current agricultural season, but floods threaten to compound the crisis.
A report by Zimbabwe's National Water Authority (Zinwa) noted that the Zambezi was already two metres above the "critical level" above which water could spill over the banks.
Mugabe's cash-strapped government, aided by aid agencies, is battling to provide relief to hundreds of displaced villagers, whose homes, schools and crops were destroyed.
Devastating Mozambique floods, which have killed seven people and displaced tens of thousands, could be the worst in recent memory, the United Nations said on Wednesday.
U.N. spokesman Luis Zaqueu said although Mozambique's emergency services were well-prepared, the scenario could change as raging waters engulfed agricultural lands and wrecked infrastructure like roads and bridges.
"Because the rains started earlier than predicted and the high water levels -- which are getting higher each moment -- the situation is likely to be worse than in 2000-2001," Zaqueu told Reuters.
Floods, compounded by a series of cyclones, in 2000-2001 were the worst disasters in memory in Mozambique and killed 700 people and caused $500 million damage.
International development charity ActionAid warned up to 250,000 people were at risk as the lower Zambezi valley is being flooded by waters from the giant Cahora Bassa dam.
"There are 250,000 people living downstream of the dam. This is the second year they will lose everything," ActionAid Mozambique director Alberto Silva said in a statement. (Additional reporting by Charles Mangwiro in Maputo)
A child rescued from a flooded area along Zambazi river cries inside a temporary shelter in Bawe village, central Mozambique, January 16, 2008. Devastating Mozambique floods, which have killed seven people ...
