Torrential rains kill nine in Mozambique

Storms and torrential rains in the past 10 days in southern and central Mozambique have killed nine people and made about 7,000 homeless, the National Disasters Management Institute said today.

It said that the crops of about 240 households had been destroyed.

In the port city of Beira, many areas have been flooded, and people have been trying to reach safer areas. Roads are under water, causing traffic problems. The authorities are mobilising emergency aid for the affected individuals, it said.

It said that moderate to heavy rainfall in central Mozambiqu and in neighbouring countries is continuing to raise the level of the Zambezi river, from the Zimbabwean border all the way to the Indian Ocean.

At Caia, in Sofala province, the Zambezi is rising rapidly and approaching flood alert level. But in other parts of the country the threat of floods has receded slightly, the institute said.