Mozambique residents at risk from deadly floods, poor planning

A woman crosses a flooded street in the aftermath of Cyclone Kenneth in Pemba, Mozambique, April 28, 2019. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings

A woman crosses a flooded street in the aftermath of Cyclone Kenneth in Pemba, Mozambique, April 28, 2019. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings

What’s the context?

In Mozambique's capital, heavy rains expose planning weaknesses as climate change fuels a cycle of misery for residents

  • Maputo residents struggle to cope with regular floods
  • Mozambique is particularly vulnerable to climate change
  • Lack of cash, planning hampers authorities' response

MAPUTO, Mozambique - Jorge Raul bends low to scoop up the water that has flooded his home in Mozambique's capital Maputo -- a daunting task made all the more difficult because it is not the first time.

Blankets and rugs are hung to dry outside the house, its salmon-pink walls reflected in the stagnant green water surrounding it.

"I'm struggling to get this water out of my house, but in a few days it could rain again and I'll have to go back to the same situation," said the 46-year-old, carrying two buckets filled with water.

His Hulene A neighbourhood is suffering the impact of two back-to-back cyclones that together killed more than 130 people in the country in recent months.

Mozambique is among the ten countries "most vulnerable globally" to the impact of climate change, according to the World Bank, while experts say tight government finances and poor infrastructure make frequent flooding particularly difficult to deal with.

Jorge Raul's flooded house in the Hulene A neighbourhood, Maputo, Mozambique, January 17, 2025.  Thomson Reuters Foundation/Samuel Come

Jorge Raul's flooded house in the Hulene A neighbourhood, Maputo, Mozambique, January 17, 2025. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Samuel Come

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Concerns about government finances have been mounting in recent years due to delays in plans to develop huge gas fields, while extreme weather and months of deadly protests after a contested election have also hit the economy.

Raul said he had sent two of his children to live with his brother in a different part of the city due to concerns that they could contract diseases from the stagnant water and would have sent all four if his brother had space.

Aida Lúcio, who also lives in Hulene A, said she and her daughter had just recovered from malaria which she blamed on the mosquitoes drawn by the stagnant water in her neighbourhood.

The 35-year old said her neighbour had moved away and that she would too if she could afford it.

"We're in mortal danger here," she said.

Aida Lucio, sitting in her house, in Hulene A neighbourhood in Maputo, Mozambique, January 17, 2025. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Samuel Come

Aida Lucio, sitting in her house, in Hulene A neighbourhood in Maputo, Mozambique, January 17, 2025. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Samuel Come

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Not enough money

The Chido cyclone killed 120 people in Mozambique in December and was followed by the Dikeledi cyclone in mid-January, which killed 11 people, according to the National Institute for Disaster Risk Management and Reduction (INGD).

The country is bracing for more rainfall this year due to the La Niña weather phenomenon, which involves the cooling of ocean surface temperatures, according to the National Institute of Meteorology.

The INGD said around 76,000 people in more than 30 neighbourhoods in Maputo could face flooding in the current rainy season.

Nearly 250,000 people were affected by the Dikeledi cyclone, including those who died and the 1,200 people forced to flee their homes, the INGD said. The government opened four shelters to house the displaced.

There are concerns authorities do not have enough money to meet the demand of those affected.

The INGD said its Contingency Plan fund-- the funds it receives from state government and international donors to tackle national emergencies -- was 9 billion meticais ($142.29 million)short of what it estimates it needs to tackle extreme weather this rainy season.

Residents in Hulene A are taking matters into their own hands.

They are digging ditches to channel the water into natural retention basins - areas of very low ground where there are no houses - although this will not be enough to clear the area, said Carlos Serra Jr, head of NGO Repensar.

The cyclones have also worsened the situation in nearby Magoanine, a neighbourhood that has struggled with the fallout of a 2023 flood in recent years.

As a result of that flood, Emília Cardoso has been living in an accommodation centre for two years.

She complains that the centre does not have enough food and bathrooms for all its residents and hopes to be able to return home one day.

"It's hard to live here," said the 51-year-old.

When contacted by Context, an official at the Magoanine disaster management committee said it would make food available to all of the families in that shelter within a few days.

A flooded former football field in Hulene A neighbourhood in Maputo, Mozambique, January 17, 2025. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Samuel Come

A flooded former football field in Hulene A neighbourhood in Maputo, Mozambique, January 17, 2025. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Samuel Come

A flooded former football field in Hulene A neighbourhood in Maputo, Mozambique, January 17, 2025. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Samuel Come

Palliative solutions

So far, municipal authorities have installed small motor pumps in Magoanine to pump the water into a small river nearby. In a month, they will move the pump to Hulene A.

Environmental organisations want authorities to build a more effective drainage system to funnel the rainwater into the Indian Ocean, which is less than 15 km (9 miles) away.

Borges da Silva, CEO of the state-run Municipal Sanitation and Drainage Company, said most families that were displaced by the 2023 floods will be able to return to their homes in Magoanine within a month. Da Silva said this took so long because a new pipe system had to be built.

"We're going to pump out the water and create a water retention basin, and probably within 30 days there will be conditions for the families to return to their homes," said da Silva.

But Serra Jr. said such measures failed to address some of the underlying causes of frequent flooding such as poor planning and illegal settlement along natural waterways.

He said the government awards building licences without considering the municipal urban structure plan drawn up in 2008, which details zones of climatic and environmental importance.

"If the municipal government is putting in motor pumps today, it might work for a while, but we don't know what might happen tomorrow," said Serra Jr. 

"Maputo urgently needs very strict environmental protection and we all have to intervene to correct the many mistakes that have been made throughout history," he said.

Officials at the ministry that oversees land and the environment declined to comment, saying a new ministry was being set up as part of the incoming government's restructuring plan after the election.

Daniel Chapo was sworn into office on Jan. 15 after a disputed general election last year, extending the grip of the ruling Frelimo party that has been in power for half a century.

(Reporting by Samuel Comé; Editing by Clar Ni Chonghaile and Ana Nicolaci da Costa.)


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