The flooded Messalo River, in the northern Gabo Delgado province, blocked the main road 70 miles from the Tanzanian border, said Antonio Macheve, a spokesman for the country's national disaster management agency.

Several villages along the banks of the Zambezi River in the northwest Tete province had also been flooded, while the towns of Vilanculo and Inhassoro in the central Inhambane province had been cut off because access roads were under water, he said.

Light rain continued to fall Monday, and the South African Weather Bureau forecast more showers over
Mozambique and its western neighbors before the weather is expected to clear on Wednesday.

The latest flooding completed a picture of devastation in Mozambique, where the north had been the only region of the country spared since rivers began to overflow in early February. The government has confirmed that 492 people died in the floods, but more bodies could be found as flood waters recede.

"To my knowledge no lives are at immediate risk, but crops have been lost," Silvano Langa, the head of the country's national disaster management agency said Sunday. No further details of the extent of the damage or the number of people affected were available.

The World Food Program planned to move 230 tons of food overland from Zimbabwe to the Tete province and distribute it by boat to villagers affected by flooding along the Zambezi River, said Abby Spring, a spokeswoman for the U.N. agency.

Water levels continued to rise again Monday in the central Save and Buzi districts - already hard hit - but aid workers said they thought they had enough food in place in those areas to feed people displaced by the disaster.

There was also some concern that flood waters will rise again in the southern Limpopo and Komati river basins because of heavy rains upstream in neighboring South Africa.

The British military began a phased withdrawal of helicopters flying aid to hundreds of thousands of flood victims in southern Mozambique. Four Puma helicopters left Mozambique on Sunday, but Britain plans to continue delivering relief using 10 other helicopters, said Andrew Bowes, a spokesman for the British High Commission.

Aid agencies hope to secure commercially owned helicopters and aircraft to deliver food as other foreign
militaries scale down their relief operations.

A U.S. relief operation is scheduled to last until April 2.

While trucks are increasingly being used to get food to an estimated 360,000 displaced flood victims being housed in aid camps, helicopters are still needed in areas where roads washed away by the floods have yet to be restored.

The World Food Program is planning this week to launch an appeal to the international community to contribute civilian aircraft to distribute relief after the end of March, Spring said.

Despite a massive multinational aid effort to feed to flood victims, thousands of Mozambicans are still going hungry.

On Sunday, scores of children with swollen bellies and orange hair - symptoms of malnutrition - were seen among the several hundred residents of a makeshift camp near the southern town of Macia.

The European Union announced Monday that it will increase its annual economic assistance to Mozambique to $150 million for 2000, a 50 percent increase over 1999 aid levels.

The EU pledged to continue sending emergency aid for another six months. The 15 EU member nations have already donated $85 million to Mozambique, and have approved $156 million in debt relief.