Mozambican rescue teams prepared to evacuate some 200,000 people threatened by fresh floods as the government appealed for more boats and aircraft to bolster the relief effort.
Environment Minister Mr John Kachamila said the government was concentrating its efforts on moving some 34,000 people from the danger zones of Marromeu in southern Zambezi River valley by the sole helicopter available, boats and trucks.
"The main concern is still Marromeu. I think the water will probably flood in Marromeu so contingency measures are still being taken," Mr Kachamila said after visiting the central provinces of Sofala, Manica, and Zambezia which have been hardest hit.
Disaster management authorities stressed more aircraft and larger boats were needed to get people to higher ground before a fresh wave of water from the Cahora Bassa reservoir - which is close to overflowing - hit the area in a few days.
Mozambican authorities and aid agencies, still recovering from devastating floods last year, said yesterday that nearly 200,000 people were threatened after another river burst its banks and more water was released from Cahora Bassa at the weekend.
More than 77,000 people are homeless and at least 41 have died.
Ten of thousands of Mozambicans in the Inyagomba district were isolated on islands created by the rising floods as water released from the reservoir flowed into the Zambezi River.
Close to 80,000 people are isolated on these islands. There might be some deaths as there have been reports of diarrhoea and there is no other way of getting into the area except by air, Mr Kachamila said.