Story by ZBC Reporter
THE Southern African Development Community (SADC) has deployed its Emergency Response Team (ERT) to support the governments of Mozambique and South Africa, following recent floods and extreme weather conditions that have resulted in loss of lives, destruction of infrastructure and disruptions of essential services.
The deployment is part of the SADC’s regional disaster response mechanisms meant to support government-led efforts in member states that have been severely affected by disasters.
The SADC Emergency Response Team will be on the ground in Mozambique and South Africa from January 23 to January 31, providing support to national authorities in emergency response, early recovery operations, continuous monitoring of the situation and consolidation of a regional humanitarian appeal, based on the evolving impact assessments.
Prolonged rainfall has resulted in river overflows, dam spillages, flash floods and flooding of low-lying areas across several SADC countries, including Eswatini, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
However, Mozambique and South Africa have been the most affected.
The deployment of the SADC teams follows individual countries’ interventions, with Zimbabwe having dispatched consignments of food and non-food items to Mozambique and Malawi.
