More flooding predicted for Southern Africa

AllAfrica.com, via IRIN: More rains are forecast for Southern Africa into next week, threatening countries already grappling with the impact of recent flooding. Parts of Zimbabwe have been inundated with heavy rains since 26 December, and the authorities haMe warned of yet more flooding in the north of the country. That could affect efforts to stem a cholera outbreak that nationwide has now claimed 1,753 lives. Rains have also pounded parts of Mozambique and Malawi over the past few weeks, killing at least one person, displacing thousands and drowning farm land.

William Msimanga, a senior meteorologist at the South African Weather Service, said more rain was headed for Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Botswana, Mozambique, parts of Madagascar and central South Africa in the next few days. Lesotho and Swaziland would also experience scattered rains, he noted.

….Further heavy rains in Zimbabwe could spell trouble for neighbouring Mozambique. One of its major rivers, the Pungue, which has been under flood alert since last month, originates in Zimbabwe. The Zambezi, the region's biggest river, also flows through Zimbabwe before entering Mozambique. Last week, torrential rains hit Mozambique's Inhambane Province in the south, and the central provinces of Manica, Sofala and Zambezia, destroying houses, roads and bridges.

…Flood-prone countries such as Mozambique and Malawi have tightened their disaster response in recent years. Mozambique, the acknowledged regional leader in disaster management, has adopted a decentralised approach to speed up reaction times. Equally importantly, collaborating aid agencies and NGOs are trying to help communities survive the aftermath of flooding. "This means after the floods are gone, the communities continue to sustain themselves on income-generating projects under our Disaster Risk Reduction and post-emergency programmes," Milton Machel, an information officer with the development agency Oxfam, told IRIN….