The 2007 Mozambican flood began in late December 2006 when the Cahora Bassa

Cahora Bassa

The Cahora Bassa lake is Africa's fourth-largest artificial lake, situated in the Tete Province in Mozambique. The name Cabora Bassa is an earlier misspelling of the name...

 Dam overflowed from heavy rains on Southern Africa

Southern Africa

Southern Africa is the southernmost region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. Within the region are numerous territories, including the Republic of South Africa ; nowadays, the simpler term South Africa is generally reserved for the country in English.-UN...

. It worsened in February 2007 when the Zambezi River broke its banks, flooding the surrounding areas in Mozambique

Mozambique

Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...

. The Chire and Rivubue rivers have also flooded.

80,600 people had been evacuated from their homes in the Tete

Tete Province

Tete is a province of Mozambique. It has an area of 100,724 km² and a population of approximately 1.551.949 .Tete is the capital of the province...

, Manica

Manica Province

Manica is a province of Mozambique. It has an area of 61,661 km² and a population of 1,359,923 .Chimoio is the capital of the province.-Districts:*Báruè District*Gondola District*Guro District*Machaze District*Macossa District*Manica District...

, Sofala

Sofala Province

Sofala is a province of Mozambique. It has an area of 68,018 km² and a population of 1.676.131 . Beira is the capital of the province. The province is named for the ruined port of Sofala.- Districts :Districts of Sofala Province include:...

 and Zambezia

Zambezia Province

Zambezia is the most-populous province of Mozambique, located in the central coastal region south-west of Nampula Province and north-east of Sofala Province. It has a population of 3,794,509 . The provincial capital is Quelimane on the Bons Sinais River.Zambezia has a total area of...

 provinces by February 14. By February 22, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that approximately 121,000 people had been displaced by the flooding. Some people refused to leave their homes and livestock. There are 29 confirmed casualties and a further 10 unconfirmed deaths.

In early February, the Mozambican authorities did not think the flooding would be as devastating as the 2000

2000 Mozambique flood

The 2000 Mozambique flood was a natural disaster that occurred in February and March 2000. The catastrophic flooding was caused by heavy rainfall that lasted for five weeks and made many homeless. Approximately 800 people were killed. 1,400 km² of arable land was affected and 20,000 head of...

 and 2001 floods. Paulo Zucula

Paulo Zucula

Paulo Zucula is a Mozambican politician and Mozambique's Minister of Transportation and Communication since March 2008.-Early life:...

, head of Mozambique's national relief agency said "We expect more water than we had in 2001. The situation is deteriorating and it will get worse but this time we are better prepared than in 2001". The World Food Program (WFP) estimates that up to 285,000 people may require food aid. Delivery of food aid by the WFP began on February 15. A single UN

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

 helicopter has been made available for the delivery of aid to evacuation centres. However, thousands of people have not yet received food or drinking water, and the threat of disease outbreaks has also increased; Paulo Zucula retracted his earlier comments about readiness, saying "We were not prepared... it's another disaster".

Category 4 Cyclone Favio made landfall on the central province of Inhambane

Inhambane

Inhambane, Terra de Boa Gente is a city located in southern Mozambique, lying on Inhambane Bay, 470 km northeast of Maputo. It is the capital of the Inhambane Province and according to the 2008 census has a population of 65,837, growing from the 1997 census of 54,157...

on February 22; experts tracking the cyclone predict that it will worsen flooding in the Zambezi River valley.