In Mozambique, floods damaged nearly 5,000 kilometers of roads, complicating both the delivery of humanitarian aid and the return of residents home.
Relief is intensifying in Maputo province, hit by one of the worst floods in decades. In the south of the country, helicopters fly over entire areas swallowed up by water, looking for isolated victims. In Maputo province alone, more than 36,000 people are believed to be affected, including 13,000 housed in reception centers. Nationally, more than 500,000 people are affected, while six people remain missing. Residents fear the return: I'm afraid to pass by here. We want to go home, but since the day before yesterday, we have been stuck on this side. We decided to take the risk to be able to return, explains a resident of Maputo.
Since the start of the rainy season in October, at least 114 people have lost their lives. Torrents of water continue to surge through several villages, causing a major humanitarian crisis, according to the United Nations. Opponent Venâncio Mondlane denounces the state of the country's infrastructure and sanitation policy: in the last fifty years since independence, Mozambique has received five billion dollars to fight climate change and clean up cities. However, most of the infrastructure built is of poor quality: bridges which will be destroyed during the next rainy season, roads in poor condition. Once the floods are over, a real investment plan will need to be put in place.
Humanitarian agencies are also warning of a major health risk, particularly for children, as the country enters its hurricane season. A national red alert has been triggered, and the authorities fear an even heavier toll with the predicted rains.
