U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
BUREAU FOR HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE (BHR)
OFFICE OF U.S. FOREIGN DISASTER ASSISTANCE (OFDA)
MOZAMBIQUE - Floods
Fact Sheet #4, Fiscal Year (FY) 2001    March 23, 2001



Background

- In mid to late January, heavy rains over Zambezia Province caused the
Licungo River to flood.  In addition to the river flooding, the heavy
rainfall forced thousands of people from their homes. The most affected
areas were Quelimane and Maganja da Costa Districts.

- Heavy rains over Mozambique and its upstream neighbors have caused the
Zambezi and Shire Rivers to rise continuously since January, flooding
areas in Tete, Zambezia, and Sofala Provinces.

- On February 21, the Government of Mozambique (GRM) declared a flood
emergency and appealed to the international community for $30 million in
emergency assistance.

- In response to the devastating floods of 2000, the United States
Congress approved $132 million in supplemental funds for Mozambique to
rehabilitate transportation infrastructure to a standard that will reduce
the risk of flood damage, provide assistance to small and medium
enterprises, provide resettlement grants to 100,000 flood affected
families, and implement disaster preparedness activities.



Numbers Affected

- The National Disaster Management Institute (INGC) estimates that 494,500
people have been affected by floods.

- INGC reports that approximately 123,600 people are located in 123 formal
and informal temporary accommodation centers (TACs), and 8,300 people were
evacuated during the flood emergency.

- The World Food Program (WFP) reports that there are 24,000 people in
camps in the Mutarara District.  According to Food for the Hungry
International (FHI), 20,000 displaced people are residing in the Chupanga
and Nensa TACs, and the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs (OCHA) reports 26,000 people in TACs in the Caia area.



Current Situation

- The GRM reported on March 20 that water flows into the Cahora Bassa Dam
are 8,900 cm/sec with a discharge of 6,700 cm/sec.  The Kariba Dam is
releasing water at 3,800 cm/sec.

- WFP has distributed 1,512 MT of mixed food commodities to 120,500
flood-affected people in Zambezia, Tete, Sofala and Manica Provinces.

- OCHA reports that an estimated 42,200 hectares of land in four provinces
has been damaged by floods (5,700 ha. in Manica; 10,300 ha. in Sofala;
10,700 ha. in Tete; and 15,500 ha. in Zambezia).  The damage affects
55,500 farming families.

- A USAID/OFDA assessment team identified a newly formed lake
(approximately 25 km by 15 km.) at the confluence of the Shire and Zambezi
rivers.  The lake developed because the Shire River has been prevented
from following its normal flow into the Zambezi River for several weeks.  
As water levels in the Zambezi River decrease and the Shire River flows
normally again, more flooding could occur downstream of the juncture in
the Zambezi River valley.

- Local media reports indicate that the Mutua-Tica stretch of highway from
the central Mozambican port of Beira to landlocked Zimbabwe reopened to
traffic on March 22.

- The town of Caia, located in the center of the affected area, serves as
a base of operations for the emergency relief efforts. Temporary
accommodation centers have been established in Caia. The World Food
Program (WFP), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the Mozambican
Red Cross, and the National Disaster Management Institute (INGC) have
pre-positioned emergency relief commodities in Caia.



U.S. Government Assistance

- On February 21, USAID/OFDA provided $25,000 through USAID/Maputo to meet
immediate logistical support requirements enabling assessments and the
delivery of relief supplies. USAID/OFDA provided an additional $95,000 on
February 22 toward air support for vulnerability analysis, disaster
assessments, and distribution of relief supplies.

- On February 28, USAID/OFDA continued its air support with an additional
$50,000.

- USAID/Maputo complemented USAID/OFDA’s contribution of $170,000 for air
support with $158,488.

- On March 8, USAID/OFDA provided $726,150 to address the need for
management of temporary accommodation centers (TACs) and provision of
services.  Food for the Hungry International (FHI) and World Vision
International (WVI) were awarded $210,424 and $277,000 respectively to
cover management of accommodation centers/transit camps and provide
essential health, water, and sanitation services as needed.  FHI is
targeting 50,000 displaced persons in Marromeu District, Sofala Province
and Chinde District, Zambezia Province.  WVI is targeting displaced
families who have lost their homes, crops, and household belongings due to
the floods in Caia District, Sofala Province; Mutarara District, Tete
Province; and Mopeia and Morrumbala Districts, Zambezia Province.  Action
Contre la Faim (ACF) will use $238,726 to address the immediate water and
sanitation needs of an estimated 24,000 people living in TACs in the Caia
District.

- On March 14, USAID/OFDA provided $130,000 for two additional weeks of
air support for assessment purposes.  From this amount, USAID/Mozambique
redirected $60,000 toward air cargo transport, to which USAID/OFDA
contributed another $40,000 on March 20 for a total of $100,000.

- USAID/OFDA contracted Diplomatic Freight Services, Ltd. on March 22 to
provide aerial surveys of specified affected areas at a cost of $274,050.

- The USAID/OFDA team in Mozambique consists of a team leader and
information officer in Maputo, and a geographic information specialist,
communications officer, and two field/program officers in Beira.

- In response to the 2000 floods in Mozambique, USAID/OFDA funded $1.8
million in search and rescue (SAR)  and training activities. The training,
conducted by Miami-Dade Fire and Rescue Department, reached more than 100
representatives from non-governmental organizations, Mozambican military,
and local fire departments and focused on SAR and relief commodity
distribution capacities. In addition to the training, USAID/OFDA pre-
positioned three zodiac boats, capable of relief commodity distribution
and SAR, with NGOs for future use.  Initial field reports confirm that all
three boats are being operated in response to the current disaster by
those trained in 2000.



USG Agency
Action
Funding


USAID/OFDA
Disaster Assistance Authority for immediate logistical support
  requirements
$25,000


USAID/OFDA
Air support for logistics and assessment
$95,000


USAID/OFDA
Air support for logistics and assessment
$50,000


USAID/OFDA
Grants to 3 NGOs for TAC management and provision of services
$726,150


USAID/OFDA
Continued air support for assessment
$70,000


USAID/OFDA
Support for Air Cargo Transport
$100,000


USAID/OFDA
Aerial survey
$274,050
Subtotal


USAID/OFDA 
$1,340,200


USAID/Maputo
Air support
$158,488


Total USG Assistance
$1,498,688




Other Donor Assistance

- The following donors have provided assistance in response to the
flooding in Mozambique: Germany ($1.8 million), Netherlands ($1 million),
Portugal ($750,000), South Africa ($1.6 million), Sweden ($30,000), United
Kingdom ($4.5 million), Italy ($1.5 million), Canada ($647,330), Belgium
($1 million), Denmark ($250,025), Japan ($200,000), and Spain ($200,000).

- On March 7, the United Nations Inter-Agency Appeal was launched in
Maputo asking for $10.7 million to assist displaced and affected
populations in Zambezia, Sofala, Tete, and Manica Provinces.



Public Donation Information

- In the interest of effective coordination of public response, USAID
encourages the public to contact directly those private voluntary
organizations (PVOs) currently working in the region in order to provide
monetary donations. Cash donations are the preferred response to the
emergency.

- For a list of non-governmental organizations providing disaster
assistance in the region, please visit USAID's website at
http://www.usaid.gov.  Those interested in providing specific technical
relief services or commodities can obtain guidelines for private voluntary
organizations through Volunteers in Technical Assistance's (VITA's)
Disaster Information Center at http://www.vita.org.

- USAID will not deviate from standard Denton Program procedures for
transporting privately-donated relief supplies.  USAID will prioritize
delivery of essential relief commodities.  For more information on the
Denton Program, please refer to the USAID website at
http://www.usaid.gov/hum_response/pvc/denton.html.

- For additional information about the relief effort in Mozambique, please
refer to the Natural Disasters section of ReliefWeb at
http://www.reliefweb.int/


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