Mozambique Floods 2000

Case study to highlight the physical and human causes of the flood and how the risk and effects

of flooding are managed in an LEDC. You may have to compare this to the Mississippi flood.

Location:

• Mozambique is located on the south-east coast of Africa. It is a relatively poor and undeveloped country

Physical & Human causes of the flood

Physical Causes Human Causes

Continuous heavy rain for more than 5 weeks in Jan/Feb.

A total of 1163mm fell compared to an average of 177mm!

In late Feb hurricane Eline struck bringing more torrential rain.

Destruction of the grasslands in the high plateaus of southern Africa which normally act to soak up rainfall and release it slowly into the rivers.

Draining of the wetlands along the rivers for farming – these marshy areas normally store floodwaters.

Huge growth of urban areas in South Africa creating lots of impermeable areas.

Impacts of the flood

• Many 1000s died, 1 million homeless, huge loss of personal possessions and livelihoods.

• Disease and malnutrition were common in the months after the flood due to a lack of medical supplies, clean water and food.

• The few bridges and roads that were in the country were washed away – economic and social problems.

How is the flood risk managed?Reduce flood risk Manage effects

River flow monitoring stations funded by the EU were built to give people warning about the floods, but the size of the floods washed these away so no warning was given to people.

There is no major flood prevention scheme or hard engineering in place because Mozambique can not afford it

International aid from charities like the Red Cross and MEDC governments.

US and UK army helped to rescue people in helicopters.

Huge refugee camps were set up for the homeless, but conditions in camps were poor – no sanitation, little food and lack of medical supplies etc

Poor infrastructure (lack of roads etc) made it difficult to transport supplies.