The Mozambican government has 580 million meticais (about 14 million US dollars) available for its contingency plan to deal with possible natural disasters during the 2015-16 rainy season.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday at the end of the weekly meeting of the Council of Ministers (Cabinet), the government spokesperson, Deputy Health Minister Mouzinho Saide, said that the material, human and financial conditions for facing such varied possibilities as floods, drought and cyclones have already been prepared.
The Contingency Plan considers three possible scenarios. The first, characterized by high winds, drought, and localised flooding, would affect almost 485,000 people. The areas most likely to be struck by drought are the southern provinces of Gaza and Inhambane.
The second scenario adds the possibility of flooding on some of the main river valleys, and puts the number of people at risk at about 678,000. The third scenario contemplates a possible cyclone and earthquake. In this worst case scenario, the number of people affected rises to over a million.
The forecast for the first half of the rainy season (October to December) is for normal to below normal rainfall in the south of the country (Inhambane, Gaza and Maputo) and in three central provinces (Manica, Sofala and Tete). For the rest of the country (Zambezia, Niassa, Cabo Delgado and Nampula), normal to above normal rains are forecast.
Saide said that the river basins where floods are most likely are the Pungoe and Licungo, in Sofala and Zambezia provinces, but also the small Inhanombe and Muthamba rivers in Inhambane (although most of Inhambane is at risk of the opposite phenomenon, drought).
The Contingency Plan is the basis for responding to and managing extreme and unpredictable natural phenomena which can cause emergency situations, said Saide.
Source: AllAfrica
