Tropical cyclone Japhet battered coastal Mozambique in early March, killing at least 11 people, forcing some 23,000 from their homes and washing away roads.

The storm destroyed crops and smashed buildings, forcing about 23,000 people from their homes in coastal Inhambane province.

It also brought heavy rains to eastern Zimbabwe, which flowed back into Mozambique to add to the devastation and caused the Save river, in the south of the country, to burst its banks.

The U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) said on Monday it had started airlifting emergency aid to Mozambicans stranded by the flooding.

A WFP helicopter on Sunday started the distribution of at least 200 tonnes of maize meal, beans and other food to15,000 people living near the mouth of the Save river.