Spanish
Geneva.- The floods caused by the heavy rains of the last two weeks have displaced 400,000 people in Mozambique, warned this Friday the representative of the UN Agency for Refugees (UNHCR) in the African country, Xavier Creach.
This exodus adds to the one previously caused by the conflict in the north of the country, where armed jihadist groups operate, so the number of displaced people in Mozambique amounts to some 700,000 people, added Creach in a telematic press conference from Xai-Xai, capital of the province of Gaza, the most affected by the floods.Read more: Heavy rains cause flooding in several areas of Puerto Plata
"Many have told us that they were waiting for hours, if not days, on the roofs of their houses," described the UNHCR representative.
Creach recalled that, for some people, this is the third major flood they have suffered in 15 years and "on each occasion they have lost the coverage signal, their homes, their belongings, their livelihoods and the farmland have been severely damaged". For his part, the director of preparation and emergency response of the World Food Programme (WFP), Ross Smith, emphasized the difficulties of access they are suffering to assist those affected. In telematics connection from Rome, Smith emphasized that more than 1,500 kilometers of roads have become "completely unusable" and they have had to use airplanes, helicopters and amphibious vehicles from the UN to reach those affected. He also added that this climate disaster is forcing them to allocate food and resources intended for those affected by the conflict in the north to the south and center of Mozambique. "We are currently very limited in terms of resources (...) So this puts our operation in northern Mozambique under a lot of pressure," warned the WFP's head of emergencies. Smith recalled that the WFP has 40% less funds available compared to a year ago and "that is really testing our ability to provide a large-scale response in places like Mozambique". According to Mozambique's National Institute for Disaster Management (INGD), at least 146 people have died and nearly 821,000 have been affected by the floods caused by heavy rains in the country since last October. This southeastern African country is at the peak of the rainy season, which began in October 2025 and is expected to end in March 2026.
