"When Emilia Machel, 30, and her three children rushed to the Chiaquelane site for displaced people on the afternoon of January 17, much of her hometown of Chokwe in Mozambique's Gaza Province was already flooded. The Limpopo River, which begins in neighbouring South Africa and flows into Mozambique, had reached dangerously high levels after heavy rain fell on the Southern Africa region from late December to mid-January."
"Machel, who supports her family by selling tomatoes and onions, first came to Chiaquelane, a long-term settlement for displaced people, at age four in 2000 during one of the deadliest floods in Mozambique's history. The reason why we came this time is because we had been here in 2000 and again in 2013. It is a safer area, she said."
"Although the rain has subsided and water levels in river basins have fallen, large swaths of land remain flooded, according to humanitarian workers. In some places it feels like you're flying over the ocean because the water stretches are very long distances and you see many isolated homes, said Guy Taylor, chief of communications with the United Nations children's agency UNICEF."
Heavy rains across Southern Africa from late December to mid-January caused the Limpopo River to reach dangerously high levels, producing floods in Mozambique's southern and central provinces. More than 150 people have died and an estimated 800,000 people have been affected. Many residents fled to long-term displacement sites such as Chiaquelane, where returning flood survivors said the camp is safer. Large swaths of land remain flooded even after river levels have fallen, isolating homes and communities. The weather agency warned of continued moderate rain in northern provinces. The government reports hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure losses and ongoing rescue needs.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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