OCHA Situation Report No. 12
Mozambique - Floods
20 March 2001


Situation

1.  As of 17 March, the Kariba dam continued to release water at 3,800
m3/s.  As of 16 March, the Cahora Bassa dam's water discharge averaged at
7,000 m3/s.  Water levels in the Zambezi River have been fluctuating but
slowly going down. The level of the Pungoe River has risen further, due to
heavy rain, and the road linking Beira to Zimbabwe remains closed.  The
levels of the Save River and the Buzi River are increasing due to heavy
rain.  Thus, evacuations in the Zambezi valley continue.

2.  Health: A vaccination campaign is underway among the population in the
accommodation centres, against meningitis for children over two years old
and adults, and measles for children under five.  First aid posts have
been established in the accommodation centres, staffed by Red Cross
volunteers with supervision from provincial health technicians.

3.  Food: WFP has distributed 1,512 tonnes of mixed food commodities to a
total of 120,500 beneficiaries in the four affected provinces.

4.  Agriculture: It is estimated that 42,200 ha have been damaged by
floods affecting 55,500 farming families in Manica, Sofala, Tete and
Zambezia provinces.  The breakdown of damages by provinces is as follows:
Manica (5,700 ha); Sofala (10,300 ha); Tete (10,700 ha) and Zambezia
(15,500 ha).  Inputs up to USD 1.7 million will be required to assist the
affected families to plant a new crop.


International Assistance

6.  The Governments of Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Japan,
Portugal, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States have
pledged or provided cash and/or in-kind contributions bilaterally or
through NGOs or the UN system to date.

7.  OCHA is prepared to serve as channel for cash contributions to be used
for immediate relief assistance, in co-ordination/consultation with
relevant organisations in the United Nations system.  Funds should be
transferred to OCHA account no. CO-590.160.0, Swift code: UBSWCHZ12A at
the UBS AG, P.O. Box 2770, CH-1211 Geneva 2, with reference: "OCHA -
Mozambique - floods 2001".  OCHA provides donors with written confirmation
and pertinent details concerning the utilisation of the funds contributed

8.  Information on contributions to this disaster may be found by clicking
on Financial Tracking at the top of the page for this disaster on the OCHA
Internet Website (http://www.reliefweb.int). Donors are requested to
verify this table and inform OCHA Geneva of corrections/additions/values.
Donors are encouraged to notify OCHA Geneva of their contributions to this
disaster using the OCHA Standardized Contributions Recording Format,
available electronically in the above mentioned Financial Tracking
Website.

9.  This Situation Report and further information on ongoing emergencies
are also available on the OCHA Internet Website at
http://www.reliefweb.int


Telephone: +41-22-91712 34
Fax: +41-22-917 00 23
E-mail: ochagva@un.org

In case of emergency only: Tel. +41-22-917 20 10

Desk Officers (OCHA Disaster Response Branch):
Mr. K. Wiersing /Ms. Y. Sawada/Mr. M. Bonnel
direct Tel. +41 22 917 2270/1768/1457

Press contact:  Mr. Donato Kiniger-Passigli, direct Tel. +41-22-91726 53


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