The National Directorate for Water Resources Management (DNGRH), under the Ministry of Public Works, Housing, and Water Resources (MOPHRH), issued an “orange alert” on Tuesday, January 13, an “orange alert” due to the moderate to high risk of flooding, based on weather forecasts and the prevailing hydrological situation throughout the country.
In a statement released by the Mozambique Information Agency, the entity reports that in the next 48 hours, flooding is expected to worsen in the low-lying areas of the Búzi basin in the central region, as well as a significant increase in the volume of runoff in the Incomáti river basin in the south of the country.
In the note, the institution indicates that the areas of impact will be riverside settlements, agricultural areas, and road traffic conditions in the Estaquinha-Nova Sofala and Guara-Guara-Vila do Búzi areas in Sofala. “The administrative posts on Josina Machel Island and Xinavane, in the localities of 25 de Setembro and Eduardo Mondlane, in Gaza, will also be affected.”
In this regard, the DNGRH recommends taking precautions such as “avoiding crossing the beds of the Búzi, Limpopo, Incomáti, Umbelúzi, and Maputo rivers and monitoring the information issued by the competent authorities.”
On Monday (12), the National Institute of Meteorology (INAM) revealed that the moderate tropical storm “Dzuzai,” which formed in the southeastern Indian Ocean basin, had evolved into an intense tropical cyclone, clarifying that the phenomenon is characterized by winds of 175 kilometers and gusts of up to 250 kilometers per hour, located at a position varying between 16.6 degrees south and 77.7 degrees east.
According to INAM, moderate to heavy rainfall of 30 to 50 millimeters in 24 hours is also expected to continue, locally very heavy above 75 millimeters in 24 hours, sometimes accompanied by severe thunderstorms and gusty winds in central and southern Mozambique.
Recently, the National Institute for Disaster Risk Management and Reduction (INGD) reported that 85 people died, 70 were injured, and another 105,100 were affected by climate change during the 2025-26 rainy season.
In October, the Executive approved the national contingency plan for the 2025-26 rainy season, valued at 14 billion meticais. However, it admitted that it only had 6 billion meticais of the necessary funds available.
Mozambique is in the middle of the rainy season, a period that has been marked by warnings of heavy rains and strong winds, mainly in the central and southern parts of the country, with the authorities taking action to anticipate floods in those regions.
The country is considered one of the most severely affected by climate change, facing cyclical floods and tropical cyclones. In the last rains, between 2024-25, Mozambique was hit by cyclones Chido, Dikeledi, and Jude, which killed at least 313 people, injured 1,255, and affected more than 1.8 million.
Extreme events caused at least 1,016 deaths in Mozambique between 2019 and 2023, affecting around 4.9 million people, according to data from the National Statistics Institute.
