The BBC reported that flooding in Mozambique began with heavy rainfall on February 9, 2000, across vast areas of southern Africa. The flooding continued with the arrival on Mozambique’s coast of tropical cyclone Eline on February, 22, 2000.
Homeless
The BBC reported that in the immediate aftermath of the 2000 floods, almost 1 million people of Mozambique’s 19 million population were left homeless. Almost 70 per cent of Mozambique’s population lived in poverty in 2000, with a large build-up of temporary shelters washed away in Mozambique’s capital of Maputo.
Illness
According to the BBC, waterborne illnesses such as malaria and cholera were prevalent in Mozambique before the flooding. Following the floods these illnesses became widespread. Transportation problems, roads and railways had been washed away, making it difficult for aid and medical supplies to reach flood victims.
Economy
CNN reported that Mozambique’s government was rebuilding the economy following the civil war in the country between 1975 and 1992 at a rate of about 10 per cent per year. The floods of 2000 had a disastrous effect on the efforts to reduce the poverty rate.
