Massive flooding returns, but Mozambique prevents disaster

Flooding killed 700 in 2001, but has claimed fewer than 10 lives this year, thanks to extensive preparations.

By Stephanie Hanes | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

from the February 21, 2007 edition

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CAIA, MOZAMBIQUE - Paulo Zucula listens intently to the aid workers' firsthand reports: Whole villages submerged. Hungry families. An estimated 70,000 now homeless. The nightly updates list the mounting challenges as Mozambique experiences the worst flooding since 2000 and 2001.

Yet, Mr. Zucula, the head of Mozambique's National Disaster Management Institute, exudes calm, even satisfaction. Unlike six years ago, when the flooding killed some 700 people, the government says that fewer than 10 people have died so far.

This time, the Mozambican government moved early and deliberately to avert a massive humanitarian crisis. Months ago, it began preparing to evacuate villages, moved food supplies into the area, and had set up early warning systems throughout the flood-prone Zambezi River basin.

"If you're looking for a success story of an African government that's trying to make things better for its people, this is a very good example of that." says Mike Huggins, spokesman for the UN's World Food Program (WFP) in southern Africa. "Their response [to flooding this time] is massively better. The government is doing a lot this year to try to mitigate the impact – they've evacuated everyone from the really critical areas, they've made sure that the UN and the aid organizations are all working together to bring a coordinated response."

The emergency is being handled at the highest levels of the government. Zucula is working closely with Prime Minister Luisa Diogo and is coordinating the various international aid organizations that have come to central Mozambique.

The country is twice the size of California on the southeast coast of Africa. Foreign aid still makes up about 14 percent of Mozambique's GDP, according to USAID, and the country is still recovering from a brutal, 17-year civil war that ended in 1992. While critics point to government corruption and high poverty rates, the US State Department and other organizations praise Mozambique for its democratic government and consistent economic growth.

The government's performance during this year's floods shows another aspect of the country's development, say UN representatives and aid workers: its ability to manage its affairs – and crises – itself.

"The government has demonstrated quite good leadership so far," says Jean-Luc Tonglet, humanitarian officer with the UN's southern Africa Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. "There has been quite significant development within the government to improve disaster management as a whole."

This set up – aid organizations reporting to the Mozambican disaster agency, the disaster management system, even the air-conditioned room in Caia that has become flood response headquarters – is new.

Over the past year, the Mozambican government has revamped its disaster-management agency, making it prevention-focused rather than response-oriented. Floods, droughts, and cyclones are going to happen in this country, the government realized, so the best approach is to minimize their impact.

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