Flooding in Maputo Province is set to worsen over the coming days as outflows from the Pequenos Libombos dam have had to increase more than 10-fold, and with heavy rain forecast to continue for at least the next 48 hours.
The situation is already causing flooding and destruction of infrastructure in the province. On Thursday night, a bridge on the N2 trunk road near Boane was washed away, cutting off the road to the borders with Eswatini at Goba and Namaacha.
Some people trapped in their homes in Boane today published video messages on WhatsApp, calling for help and to be evacuated, something which may only be possible by air.
Several houses, access roads and other private and public infrastructure are flooded in the cities of Maputo and Matola, especially those in low-lying areas. Even downtown Maputo is practically impassable due to the non-functioning of the drainage system.
The water current is so strong that in some areas parked cars have been dragged away, and others have accidentally been driven into flooded drainage ditches due to lack of signage.
The heavy rains, which have been falling since Tuesday, have taken many people by surprise, as there was no prior warning of bad weather.
The water system administration for southern Mozambique (ARA-Sul) announced this morning that due to heavy rain in Eswatini, the Pequenos Libombos dam would have to increase its discharges to 2,500m3 per second. Yesterday, it had issued an alert that discharges would rise to 230m3/s, potentially rising to 600m3/s — levels that even so would have caused flooding.
