Cyclone threatens second blow to battered Mozambique

Already flooded, Mozambique may be hit by a cyclone on Sunday

Nation already reeling from worst floods in 30 years

February 22, 2000
Web posted at: 7:14 p.m. EST (0014 GMT)

In this story: Floods render 220,000 homeless U.N. to appeal for immediate aid RELATED STORIES, SITES

MAPUTO, Mozambique -- Flood-ravaged Mozambique braced itself on Saturday for more rain as Cyclone Eline threatened the impoverished country on the southeast coast of Africa.

The National Meteorology Institute warned that Eline could hit the central Mozambique coast by Sunday morning, compounding the misery of hundreds of thousands already made homeless by the worst flooding in 30 years.

The institute warned the cyclone could bring more torrential rains and winds of more than 120 km/h (75 mph).

A weather service reported that the cyclone was moving westward at 28 km/h (17 mph) and was expected to re-intensify as it crossed the channel toward Mozambique.

Cyclone Eline killed at least five people and left thousands homeless when it hit the island of Madagascar on Friday.

U.N. officials estimate that 220,000 Mozambicans have already been forced from their homes by floods this month in the worst-hit provinces of Maputo and Gaza. A total of 800,000 are vulnerable to malaria, cholera, and other water-borne diseases.

The Mozambique government has given no official death toll but local newspapers report at least 48 have died.

The rains have dislodged land mines, a legacy of the 16-year civil war which ended in 1992, increasing the danger they pose.

President Joaquim Chissano planned to fly over devastated areas of the Limpopo Valley on Saturday. The waters of the Limpopo River were more than seven meters (23 feet) higher than normal and still rising.

The Southern Regional Water Board urged all residents of the the Limpopo Valley to remain on "maximum alert." Authorities in Xai-Xai were fighting to stop waters flooding the city.

"Our main attention now is to do all we can to prevent the collapse of the dyke, because if that happens the drama could take on catastrophic proportions," Xai-Xai Mayor Faquir Bay told the Noticias newspaper.

Upstream, in Chibuto district, authorities threatened to use force to evacuate people who refused to leave their homes and farms. Some are reluctant to leave because they do not want to abandon their cattle, the main source of wealth in the region.

The United Nations will launch an inter-agency appeal for the former Portuguese colony on Monday. The Mozambique government has already made an appeal for $2.7 million in immediate aid.

Donors including the United States and European countries have already promised more than $2 million in aid. Neighboring South Africa has provided military helicopters to ferry food and emergency medical equipment to stranded communities.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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