Dozens of flooded houses in the suburbs of the Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado

Dozens of houses were flooded after heavy rain on Thursday in the Mahate area, on the outskirts of the center of Pemba, the provincial capital of Cabo Delgado.

“It started raining early in the morning and when I got up, everything was flooded, including our food,” Raimundo Taliki, 70, a father of five who has lived in the neighborhood for four years. Lusa said.

In this area on the outskirts of Pemba, just over 50 families were affected by flooding. It is an area considered swampy and endangered by authorities but home to hundreds of households.

Days after the rain, Raimundo Taliki is now taking his own life, although his house is still flooded.

“It seems to me that they have forgotten us,” says the man.

The affected families also include displaced people living in Pemba after fleeing armed conflict between rebels and government forces in districts further north of the province.

“I lost a lot of things that I managed to buy when I came here to Pemba to escape the war. I lost chickens, buckets and also my phone,” lamented Muanassa John, a 58-year-old internally displaced person from the Quissanga area.

In the area, water flooded neighborhoods, forcing some families to leave the area, but there were others who chose to stay.

“We have nothing left, not even clothes. We have lost everything and we will have to start all over again,” stresses displaced Assane Nangongori, Muanassa John’s husband.

Rain in Cabo Delgado province has disrupted some main access roads, stopping traffic on the EN380 Macomia-Muidumbe route.

Rain, accompanied by thunderstorms and gusty winds, began to hit northern Mozambique on Tuesday, with rainfall amounts reaching 50 millimeters in 24 hours, according to the National Institute of Meteorology (Inam).

Mozambique is experiencing the peak of its rainy season, with authorities warning of the risk of flooding due to bad weather in several parts of the country in recent weeks.

Just over a week ago, southern Mozambique was hit by bad weather that killed nine people and affected another 12,000, leaving hundreds of homes flooded, especially in the suburbs.

Mozambique’s current rainy season, which begins in October, has already killed 135 people and affected another 116,334, according to a report seen by Lusa.

Of the 135 deaths recorded since October, 57 were caused by lightning, 31 by cholera, 24 by drowning, 20 by house collapses and three by animal attacks, according to a report by the National Institute for Disaster Management and Reduction (INGD).

Mozambique is considered one of the countries hardest hit by global climate change, experiencing cyclical floods and tropical cyclones during the rainy season, which runs from October to April.

RYCE/EAC//SF

Lusa/The End