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Update: 10 December 1999

(This information is available for archival purposes only. It was current as of the date given above, and has been superseded by newer updates.)

The worst floods in living memory continue to make Southern Africa - Mozambique, South Africa, Zimbabwe
and Botswana - the scene of an unrelenting region-wide disaster, comparable in devastation to the recent earthquakes and their aftermath in Turkey. Beyond hundreds already dead and a half-million homes destroyed, malaria and diarrhoea are already in evidence and there is a prospect of cholera outbreaks.

When Cyclone Eline and torrential rains caused rivers to overflow their banks in early February, Mozambique
was hardest hit. But the crisis was regional. In Zimbabwe - already wracked by severe economic crisis - some 250,000 were rendered homeless by floods. In Botswana at least 90,000 were affected and 10,000 dwellings were destroyed.

The country of South Africa was hit not only by the floods but is now heavily engaged in emergency assistance to her neighbors, including a large influx of flood refugees.

What Is Most Pressing Now?

  • Thousands remain stranded and in urgent need of rescue;
  • Malaria and diarrhoea are on the increase, posing added health threats;
  • Shortages are driving staple prices beyond the reach of many; and
  • Needed bridges and roads have been washed away.

What UNICEF Is Doing

On 11 February UNICEF launched an urgent effort to stave off disease in Mozambique. A week later UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy visited the area.

From the start, the children's agency has concentrated on getting needed medicines in place before outbreaks occur. And on ensuring access to safe water, health services and sanitation facilities. UNICEF is also working on developing shelters, feeding stations and distribution points.

Work proceeds on establishing radio communication beween relief locations and provincial and national capitols. Many other agencies are involved in the initial efforts of what promises to be a long process of reconstruction of shattered populations and devastated infrastructures.

"It is not just rescue and evacuation," Ian MacLeod of UNICEF Mozambique told BBC."The immediate rescue of people stranded on roofs and in trees is just the beginning."

Visit this space for future updates on the Southern Africa floods.

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