The Associated Press
MAPUTO, Mozambique
(December 30, 2000 8:16 a.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com) -
Still recovering from devastating floods earlier this year, Mozambique
could suffer renewed flooding because of persistent rain in neighboring
Zambia.
Zambian authorities
have opened the floodgates in the Kariba dam, putting more than
150,000 people in Mozambique's central province of Zambezia at
risk, the Noticias newspaper reported Saturday.
Most of the
people in the threatened area are peasant farmers. Serious flooding
would sweep away farmland and cause famine, said Orlando Francisco,
an official with the Natural Disasters Management Institute.
Provincial
authorities were planning to contact Zambia to discuss the issue,
Francisco said.
Floods in
February and March killed 700 people and did about $1 billion
in damage, destroying the homes or livelihoods of more than 10
percent of Mozambique's population of 19 million.
|
