LUANDA, 26 January (IRIN) - Steady rainfall is hindering mopping-up operations after widespread flooding in southern Africa, while relief organisations prepared for cholera outbreaks and damage assessments could not be completed because roads have become impassable.

Relief work was being hampered by bad weather in the area where Luanda, the Angolan capital, is located, while preparations for dealing with an anticipated rise in cholera cases got underway.

Flash floods in the past week claimed the lives of 57 people, and an undisclosed number have been reported missing. In the Cacuaco municipality, north of Luanda, the area worst-hit by the flooding, some neighbourhoods were inaccessible after a bridge was washed away and roads became dangerous.

"It's very complicated because we don't have access to much of the population," Jesus Herrera, a representative of the emergency medical organisation, Medicos del Mundo (Spain) in Angola, told IRIN. "So we don't know what people's needs are, or the extent of the flooding or how many people are missing."

Preparations to combat cholera - a waterborne intestinal infection leading to severe dehydration from chronic diarrhoea and vomiting; left untreated it can result in death within 24 hours - were being thwarted by the bad weather. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has described it as "an easily treatable disease" cured with rehydration salts.

"The numbers [of cholera cases] are rising a lot. This is because access [to treatment centres] is getting easier, but also because cholera is on the up," Herrera said. "The situation is under control at the moment, but we are getting prepared for any eventuality."

Medicos del Mundo has brought in more staff and its French equivalent, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), is also considering boosting its staff complement in Luanda.

Increasing the number of Cholera Treatment Centres (CTCs) set up before the floods to treat a possible outbreak of the disease was being complicated by conditions on the ground.

"The CTCs that were established before [the floods] have reached capacity, [and] so need expansion," Mark Van Boekel, head of MSF Holland in Angola told IRIN. "Others are not easily accessible, and some areas where CTCs are supposed to be being set up are completely flooded."

Mozambique

The heavy rains in Mozambique, which brought extensive flooding to Quelimane, capital of the central province of Zambezia, have temporarily abated. According to a statement by Save The Children (UK), about "1,500 households have been seriously affected", with homes, property and crops destroyed.

"Some 672 families, for example, in Nicoadala district in the central part of Zambezia, are now living in temporary shelters or in the open as a result of the River Licaure bursting its banks. In other parts of the province, such as Mopeia district, the full extent of the damage is still unclear because of the continuing impassability of roads due to high water levels and localised flooding." The organisation has provided more than 2,000 blankets, cooking pots, tents and plastic sheeting to affected communities in the province.

Emergency relief teams have been on high alert because rain has filled the Cahora Bassa dam to capacity and the sluice gates may be opened, allowing more water to flow into the Zambezi river, which is already above the flood alert level. "Any further discharge of water from the dam could result in immediate negative consequences for the communities further downstream," the Save The Children (UK) statement said.

Communities in the district of Mopeia, on the Zambezi River, were particularly vulnerable, according to Save the Children. Emergency relief kits with blankets, water containers and water purification tablets have been prepositioned in the district.

"With further rains predicted, and a wet season still ahead of us, there is no room for any complacency," said Chris McIvor, the programme director of Save the Children UK in Mozambique.

The rainy season usually lasts until the end of March.

Zambia

Zambian authorities and aid agencies have stepped up measures to avert possible outbreaks of waterborne diseases and assist flood victims.

Bernard Namachila, permanent secretary in charge of the government's Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit, told IRIN: "We are on the ground in all affected areas to ensure the situation remains under control. We are still carrying out assessments, and we shall issue a report in due course on how many people have been displaced, or the exact damages to infrastructure and the crops as a result of the floods."

Torrential rains swamped at least 21 of the country's 73 districts; many bridges, roads and crop fields in the affected areas remain submerged.

"While it is true that some people have been displaced after the floods completely washed away their houses, the situation is still manageable, as we have already started assisting the victims with food and other requirements. But we can't tell, just as yet, how many people genuinely need shelter," Namachila said.

Ministry of Health spokesperson Canisius Banda said, "We have activated our epidemic preparedness committees and they are now helping in carrying out health education, surveillance, distribution of free chlorine for water treatment, and insecticide-treated mosquito nets, since the ... [stagnant] waters may become breeding grounds for malaria parasite-carrying mosquitoes."

"So far we have not received any cases of an outbreak of waterborne diseases or rampant malaria cases from any of the affected areas."

The Zambian government has not approached the World Food Programme (WFP) for assistance, but spokesperson Jo Woods confirmed that the UN agency had received calls for assistance from people in affected districts.

"WFP's sub-office in Western Province is closely monitoring the situation, as there are reports that calls for support from people in affected districts are increasing. It has also been reported that flooding in some districts has washed away crops [but] WFP has not been approached by the government to provide assistance," Woods said.

The Zambian Red Cross Society has provided displaced victims with tents, jerry cans and disinfectants.

"The humanitarian need is growing in the flooded areas," James Zulu, spokesperson for the humanitarian organisation in Zambia, told IRIN. "We are waiting for official reports, and we may just launch an international appeal if government declares the current flooding as a disaster."

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