After weeks of deadly flooding across Mozambique, thousands of people who lost their homes have sought safety in makeshift camps as rescue efforts continue.
Among them is a newborn girl whose story echoes a powerful chapter in the country’s history. She was named after Rosita Salvador, a woman born during catastrophic floods in 2000 when her mother gave birth in a tree. That disaster killed around 800 people and Salvador later became a national symbol of resilience. She died earlier this month after a long illness, aged 25.
Her namesake was born in similarly dire conditions. With floodwaters surrounding her home in southern Mozambique, Erica Raimundo Mimbir went into labour after days of being trapped. The only dry place she could find was a school desk, where she eventually gave birth.
“The water kept rising and everything flooded,” Mimbir said. “They took me to the hospital, where a nurse was there, and I started feeling pain in my stomach. We spent the night in the flooded hospital, standing until dawn.”
She said they were later evacuated by boat to a nearby school, which was also submerged. “The water there was up to our shoulders,” she added.
The latest flooding, which began in October, has killed about 140 people and forced an estimated 100,000 into temporary shelters. In Maputo province, emergency teams have flown over vast areas consumed by floodwaters, searching for stranded residents and assessing the scale of destruction.
Rescuers are still combing through thick mud and waterlogged homes to locate people missing after what officials describe as one of the worst floods the country has experienced in decades.
Floodwaters have destroyed roads, bridges, power lines, and water systems, severely disrupting aid deliveries and isolating entire communities.
The United Nations said more than half a million people have been affected in the country of roughly 35 million. UNICEF warned that exceptionally heavy rains in January have triggered a rapidly escalating humanitarian emergency, particularly in southern Mozambique.
“This flooding isn’t just destroying homes, schools, health centres, and roads,” said UNICEF spokesman Guy Taylor. “It’s turning unsafe water, disease outbreaks, and malnutrition into deadly threats for children.”
Taylor warned that the start of Mozambique’s cyclone season raises the risk of a “double crisis,” with disruptions to food supplies and healthcare pushing the most vulnerable children into further danger.
“What happens in the coming days will determine not only how many people survive, but how many can recover, return to school, and rebuild their futures,” he said.
With more heavy rain forecast, officials fear the death toll could rise further. Authorities have issued a nationwide red alert, the highest weather warning level, as the country braces for more extreme conditions.
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