The National Directorate for Water Resources Management (DNGRH) warns that there is a risk of flooding in Maputo province, starting next week.

The fact is that as of this week, the Pongola Dam will start discharging and could reach a peak of around 400 cubic meters per second in the Maputo basin.

"We are predicting that the Maputo, Umbeluzi and Nkomazi basins are at moderate risk of flooding, but within the international cooperation that we have with South Africa, we have sat down and defined the quantities that should be released and we have an indication that we will reach a peak in November of around 400 meters per second in the Maputo basin.

This raises the risk of flooding, but it's a reasonable peak because South Africa usually discharges around 800, which is double what we're going to receive now," said Agostinho Vilanculos, a representative of the National Directorate for Water Management, quoted by "O País".

In addition to South Africa, Eswatini also has one of its dams full.

"At the moment we have Pequenos Libombos with a storage level of around 92%, a high level for the start of the rainy season, but we know what the objective of Pequenos Libombos is, which is to store water to supply the population of Maputo and Matola in times of drought. We are discharging around 10 m3 and these discharges are not of great magnitude because one of the Eswatini dams is also full and we are not going to discharge it and, normally, in operational matters we have to discharge the ones that are in use, so we have to be careful and go down to around 80%," he explained.

The fact is that the rainy season starts next month and INAM is forecasting abnormal rainfall for some parts of the country and the region.

"The forecast indicates a high probability of normal rainfall with a tendency to above normal in the provinces of Gaza, Inhambane, Manica, Sofala, Tete and Zambézia," said Bernardino Nhantumbo, a technician at the National Meteorological Institute.

Against this backdrop, the national health institute predicts an increase in malaria cases from the center to the north of the country, which could be more serious in Cabo Delgado and Niassa. It also predicts an increase in cases of diarrheal diseases.

"I'm talking specifically about the provinces that will be most at risk, which are Maputo, Tete and Niassa, with a greater predominance of children, specifically the under-fives," explained the INS representative.

The Ministry of Agriculture says that the northern part of the country should delay its sowing period, while the southern and central regions may follow the normal schedule, due to water forecasts.

The interlocutors were speaking this Friday in Maputo, at the eleventh Meteorological Forecasting Forum. (Source: O País)