Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Maputo)
Posted to the web December 31, 2005
Maputo

Torrential rains are continuing in central Mozambique and have isolated the districts of Buzi and Chemba from the rest of the country, Radio Mozambique reported on Friday.

The road from the town of Buzi to Tica, on the Beira- Zimbabwe highway, is impassable - and indeed the Beira-Zimbabwe road itself is under threat.

At least 500 hectares of crops have been lost in the Pungoe valley, west of Beira, reports the Beira daily "Diario de Mocambique". Peasant farmers have been frantically harvesting pumpkins, sweet potatoes, and maize cobs, as the waters rise.

The maize cobs are unripe: they will have to be eaten at once, since it will be impossible to dry them or pound them into flour. In the locality of Mafambisse, parts of a major sugar plantation are under water. The rains have destroyed at least 15 houses in this area, and over a hundred people have been stranded by the rising waters.

Although none of the major rivers in the area (the Zambezi, the Pungue, the Buzi and the Save) are yet at flood alert level, the central region water board (ARA-Centre) is warning people to stay away from the river banks and seek higher ground.