Huge flood hits Mozambique

Huge flood hits Mozambique

A flood as bad as the one in 2000 is hitting southern and central Mozambique and is worsening. More rain is expected today and tomorrow, and more flood waters will come in rivers from South Africa and Zimbabwe, which have also been hit by torrential rain. All the dams in the south are full and so any incoming water continues down the rivers.

On Friday the Limpopo River was 3.4 metres above flood alert level and the towns of Chóckwè and Guija were under water: 

   Photo of Chóckwè from INGD video on https://www.facebook.com/reel/860759696950101

The main north-south N1 road is flooded or washed out in several places in Maputo and Gaza provinces and all north-south road access is cut. National Roads Administration (ANE) Deputy General Director Miguel Coanai on Saturday warned motorists that it is impossible to leave Maputo going north. Rivers rose faster than many expected, leaving more than a thousand vehicles trapped on high ground between flooded parts of road. The photo is of a bridge in Chóckwè from the INGC video:

LAM has put in special flights between Maputo and Xai-Xai. The railway to Zimbabwe is also cut. 

A minibus was trapped in the flood yesterday near Chóckwè and 12 people were spotted standing of the roof of the van, already under water. President Daniel Chapo was flying in a helicopter over the zone and landed at a nearby airstrip and sent the helicopter to rescue the 12 people, including a baby:

Photo from INGD video on https://www.facebook.com/reel/1393293955863387 The vehicle rear door can be seen floating in the top right corner of the picture.

Parts of Matola, Maputo and Boane in Maputo province are also flooded; the Umbaluzi River was 2.4 m above flood alert level and the Incomati 3.5 m above. There is also flooding in Sofala (particularly Buzi) and Manica provinces, with the Buzi and Pungue rivers above flood alert.

A useful flood map is on Google Flood Hub https://sites.research.google/floods/l/0/0/3 Click on the blob on Mozambique to get a more detailed picture.

The book on the flood 25 years ago can be downloaded free: Mozambique and Great Flood of 2000

Former Prime Minister Luisa Diogo dies

Luisa Diogo died in Lisbon Friday 16 January after an illness. Born in 1958 in Tete she joined the Ministry of Finance in 1980 while still a student. She became Deputy Minister of Finance in 1994, then Minister of Planning and Finance in 2000. Diogo was Mozambique’s first woman Prime Minister 2004-10. Diogo was part of the dynamic post-independence generation that championed the Frelimo ideals of development, integrity, and advancement of women. She fought against the growing IMF and World Bank pressure to create the corrupt oligarch state.

Diogo ran to become the Frelimo candidate in the 2014 presidential election. Although backed by progressives in Frelimo, she was defeated on the second round of internal voting by the then defence minister, Filipe Nyusi. That pushed her to the edges of Frelimo and she moved to banking. In 2012, she had become Chair of Barclays Bank-Mozambique (later ABSA).