Mozambique floods claim more lives

Africa
Flooding caused by heavy seasonal rains claimed three more lives over the weekend in Mozambique where authorities bracing for a fresh surge along the Zambezi river were battling to get supplies to around 2,000 families that had fled their homes. This year's floods are THE HEAVIEST IN YEARS and were expected to worsen when the floodgates on the Kariba Dam upstream on the Zambezi on the Zambia-Zimbabwe border were opened to prevent it from bursting its banks. The operators of the dam had said they intended to start releasing water on Monday. "The situation remains critical. Given that it is raining heavily we do not have access to the places where the (flood) victims have been relocated. We know that there are some 2,000 families unattended (in and around Marromeu). They have no food for quite a long time." The INGC was stockpiling food in a nearby area in the hope of being able to deliver supplies by boat when the waters recede. Parts of Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Lesotho, Swaziland and Namibia have also been plagued by floods that have submerged villages and inundated thousands of acres of crops.

SOUTH AFRICA - Cars floating...trees collapsing...power lines down...shops flooded... caused by a deluge in East London on Monday afternoon. A flash thunderstorm caused a swathe of destruction across East London in a matter of minutes yesterday, dumping more than an inch of rain on the city and surrounding suburbs. Image: Swamped...Here a picture of a car being swamped by water on the East London beachfront. Picture: DARRYL PARRISH