By Charles Mangwiro

BEIRA, Mozambique, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Heavy rains from a cyclone sparked more flooding in Mozambique on Sunday, worsening a humanitarian crisis that has already killed 45 people and forced 140,000 from their homes.

The Buzi river in central Sofala province overflowed its banks at dawn, threatening up to 145,000 people in the district, after the remnants of cyclone Favio pounded the area.

"We are facing a serious flooding drama," district administrator Sergio Moyane told Reuters in area capital Beira. "There are many houses under water and many fields have been swamped."

The cyclone slammed into the coast on Thursday, killing five people near the southern tourist town of Vilanculos, and although it was downgraded to a tropical storm, it brought pounding rains to a region already struggling to cope with flooding.

Moyane said the storm damaged buildings as it swept through the area on Saturday, bringing downpours that filled the already swollen Buzi river.

Sugar cane fields were in danger of being damaged, he added.

Relief workers are battling to supply food and fresh water to some 140,000 people who have been displaced by flooding in four central provinces. The floods have killed 40 people and 53,000 people have moved to accommodation centres.

Neighbouring South Africa and the European Union on Saturday both pledged more help for the relief effort.

SEARCH FOR VICTIMS

Further south near Vilanculos, a resort town that bore the full brunt of the cyclone's 270 kph (170 mph) winds on Thursday, authorities were searching for affected people in the area.

"Because of the communication problems we are still looking for people either stranded or injured," said Casmiro Abreu, spokesman for the emergency operation centre run by Mozambique's national relief agency INGC.

Officials were seeking to help 36,000 people in the area who lost virtually all their possessions. "We are currently distributing a little amount of food which we have and building toilets," Abreu said.

Tourists were airlifted on Friday from hotels in the Bazaruto archipelago, a string of islands 40 km (25 miles) off the coast in the Indian Ocean dotted with luxury resorts.

But 300 local inhabitants were still stranded on the islands, where the cyclone reduced the resorts to rubble, and officials said boats were being dispatched to rescue them.

The former Portuguese colony, recovering from a devastating 16-year political conflict, saw its worst disaster on record in 2000-2001.

A series of cyclones then compounded widespread flooding in southern and central parts of the country, killing 700 people and driving close to half a million from their homes.

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