Death toll from floods rises in Mozambique, South Africa

Mozambique battled severe flooding Monday as the death toll after weeks of rain climbed, with more bodies also recovered in neighbouring South Africa. Heavy rains and storms have battered the two southern African countries for weeks, claiming at least 150 lives, authorities said. More than 110 people had been killed in Mozambique since early October, the start of the rainy season, the National Disasters Management Institute (INGD) database showed Monday, with 13 of the deaths in the past week. Large parts of the country were still underwater, prompting President Daniel Chapo to cancel his trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos as rescue operations continued. In South Africa, meanwhile, authorities said the death toll had risen to 38 in the northeastern Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces – which border Mozambique – after weeks of heavy downpour. In Mozambique, rivers had burst their banks and swallowed entire neighbourhoods in several regions, displacing thousands including a woman who was forced to give birth on a roof as she sheltered from flood waters. Images on social media showed brown water swirling through the city of Xai Xai, which is around 200 kilometres (125 miles) northeast of the capital Maputo and in the Limpopo River basin. South Africa’s defence force said it had sent a search and rescue team, including a helicopter, to assist Mozambique’s emergency operations. “Severe flooding has now affected over 432,000 people in Mozambique, with 49,000+ evacuated into accommodation centres,” the UN’s children’s charity UNICEF said.

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