Around 45 thousand people may be affected by floods in the Maputo and Inhambane river basins, due to the rains associated to the tropical depression that is expected to hit the southern region of the country tomorrow.
The projection is from the National Directorate of Water Resources Management (DNGRH), which foresees the overflow of the Maputo, Incomati and Umbeluzi basins in Maputo province, as well as Mutamba and Inhanombe in Inhambane. These will receive more rain, at a time when they have high levels of runoff.
The alert was made by the National Institute for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (INGD). Despite the scenario, INGD highlights the need for communities in the three southern provinces of the country, namely Maputo, Gaza and Inhambane, to remain calm and attentive to information provided by the authorities.
Speaking yesterday in Magude, Maputo province, as part of the monitoring of the situation, the INGC president, Luísa Meque, said that so far there are no indications on the need to open accommodation centers, however, the floods are causing impassability in some roads.
In Manhiça, for example, the approximately 8,500 inhabitants of the administrative post of Calanga can only reach the town through the Bilene beach in Gaza province. In Magude, the locality of Mulelemane was already isolated from the rest of the district.
Luísa Meque said that the attention is focused on ensuring the transitability of people and goods of primary necessity, through boats whose allocation was still in progress.
Even so, the source assured the existence of pre-positioned means for the rescue of families that may eventually be besieged due to the overflowing of rivers.
Extensive agricultural areas, already cultivated, are under water. A numerical survey is currently underway to determine with some accuracy the areas affected. It is known that at least in Calanga there are about 1500 hectares, which, according to the head of the post, Juvenal Sigaúque, will generate hunger pockets in about 1600 families.
In turn, Isac Filimone, from DNGRH, said that the rains, to be intensified by a cold front, may generate urban floods in the cities of Maputo, Matola, Xai-Xai, Maxixe and Inhambane, besides the overflow of the basins.
Regarding the Gaza province, the technician assured that the precipitation will not generate significant impacts in the Limpopo river, even though it is already under load due to the rains upstream.
In the latest update, issued at 4 pm yesterday, the National Institute of Meteorology reiterates that the low pressure system formed in the Mozambique Channel, on February 7, continues with strong chances of evolving today into a tropical depression and reaching the country, tomorrow, through the province of Inhambane, with winds up to 70 km / h and rainfall of up to 100 mm in 24 hours. The system will affect the weather in the region until Sunday.
