Before Eline's final landfall, Mozambique's worst floods since 1951 had killed about 150 people. The additional rainfall and flooding from Eline created the country's worst natural disaster in a century, and disrupted ongoing relief efforts. The combined effects destroyed over of crop fields and killed 40,000 cattle. The Limpopo River reached wide and above normal in some areas, which isolated the town of Xai-Xai. A dam broke along the river, flooding the town of Chokwe in the middle of the night and trapping several unprepared residents; this accounted for nearly half of the death toll. About 55 people drowned in Sofala Province after rescue helicopters arrived too late to save them. Around 20,000 people in the capital city of Maputo lost their homes. In addition to the floods, strong winds blew away many roofs and some entire houses made of mud. The combined effects of the preceding floods and Eline left about 329,000 people displaced or homeless, killed around 700 people, and caused an estimated $500 million (USD) in damage. The flooding disrupted much of the economic progress Mozambique had made in the 1990s since the end of its civil war.