The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has deployed its Emergency Response Team to Mozambique as devastating floods batter parts of the country, triggering large-scale displacement and destruction.
Search and rescue operations are underway in the worst-hit Gaza and Maputo provinces, with local and international teams racing against time to save lives in submerged communities and floodplains.
SADC said the flooding has destroyed critical infrastructure, wiped out farmlands and cut off food supplies, leaving thousands vulnerable.
“The deployment of the SADC Emergency Response Team is part of our regional disaster response mechanisms following Mozambique’s declaration of a Red Alert on January 16,” said SADC Secretariat Head of Communication and Public Relations, Babra Lopi.
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She said the team includes specialists in search and rescue, logistics, public health, security, civil-military coordination, communications and disaster assessment.
Relentless rainfall has also affected other SADC countries, with South Africa declaring a State of National Disaster on January 18.
On January 22, President Emmerson Mnangagwa responded to appeals from Mozambique and Malawi, sending emergency food aid and deploying a Zimbabwean rescue team to Mozambique.
At home, Mnangagwa has placed the Civil Protection Unit on high alert, backed by the army, police and government departments, while Government has mobilised 50 tonnes of grain per province as a rainy-season contingency measure.
