Zimbabwe says floods have killed 246 people and left nearly 2,000 homeless since December. </s> Zimbabwe says floods have killed 246 people and left nearly 2,000 homeless since December.

The southern African country has appealed to international donors for $100 million to help those affected by the floods, which have washed away some bridges and roads and cut off some communities from surrounding areas.

Saviour Kasukuwere, Zimbabwe's minister of local government, declared a national disaster and announced the death toll on Thursday. He says 128 people have been injured in the floods. </s> March 03, 2017 2:32 AM Associated Press FILE - Zimbabwe's Minister of Youth Development, Indigenization and Empowerment Saviour Kasukuwere speaks during the Reuters Africa Investment Summit in Sandton, April 16, 2012. HARARE, ZIMBABWE - Floods in Zimbabwe have killed 246 people and left nearly 2,000 homeless since December, according to the government.

Start the conversation, or Read more at UAport. </s> A woman and her baby walk past a tent in Tsholotsho after she was rescued following floods in this Friday, Feb. 24, 2017 photo made available by UNICEF Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe says floods have killed 246 people and left 2,000 homeless since December.

Start the conversation, or Read more at GlobalNews. </s> For months, they pleaded for rain. Now they're dying from the downpour. Floods in Zimbabwe have killed nearly 250 people since December in regions that were recently suffering from drought.

Start the conversation, or Read more at The Tribune. </s> Families receive supplies in Tsholotsho after they were rescued following floods in this Friday, Feb. 24, 2017 photo made available by UNICEF Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe says floods have killed 246 people and left 2,000 homeless since December.

Start the conversation, or Read more at SFGate. </s> HARARE, Zimbabwe - Floods in Zimbabwe have killed 246 people and left nearly 2,000 homeless since December, according to the government.

The southern African country has appealed to international donors for $100 million to help those affected by the floods, which have washed away some bridges and roads and cut off some communities from surrounding areas.

Saviour Kasukuwere, Zimbabwe’s minister of local government, announced the death toll on Thursday. He says 128 people were injured in the floods, which were caused by heavy rains.

President Robert Mugabe, currently in Singapore for a medical checkup, declared the floods to be a national disaster this week.

The floods have mainly affected southern Zimbabwe, where the air force has transported some marooned villagers to safety. Dams have also overflowed, raising concerns about communities living downstream.

Five bridges on major highways have been swept away nationwide, Transport Minister Joram Gumbo said.

“Our roads have deteriorated to the extent that some sections of the national road network have become impassable,” Zimbabwe’s Daily News newspaper quoted Gumbo as saying.

Zimbabwe’s cash-strapped government is already struggling to meet routine commitments such as the payment of state workers’ salaries.

Also, thousands of nurses in state hospitals in Zimbabwe went on strike this week over a lack of bonus payments, straining an already dire situation at the poorly resourced hospitals. State hospital doctors have been on strike since Feb. 15, forcing the government to send in army and police doctors to care for patients. </s> Severe flooding and lightning strikes have killed about 250 people and left close to 2,000 homeless in Zimbabwe since October, according to the government.

More than 100 people have been injured.

As NPR's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton reports, officials have declared a national disaster and appealed to international donors for $100 million to help flood-stricken areas.

Zimbabwe's minister of local government, Saviour Kasukuwere, said in a statement Thursday that the crisis stems from "an astounding shift from a drought condition to an excessively wet situation." Heavy rains had already soaked the region when Tropical Cyclone Dineo raked across southern Africa last month.

According to government figures, the severe weather has damaged more than 2,500 homesteads, 74 schools and five health institutions.

Kasukuwere said some communities have been cut off from social services and that there was an urgent need for blankets, clothing, food aid and access to safe water.

"Most roads have been turned into gullies and almost all districts have reported areas that are inaccessible following the collapse of bridges," he said.

The country's transportation minister said five bridges had been swept away by the floodwaters, Ofeibea reports.

"The affected populations are in dire need of assistance to rebuild their homes, rehabilitation of social institutions as well as recover lost property and livelihoods," Kasukuwere said.

He said his ministry is working with U.N. agencies, nongovernmental organizations, other government agencies, development partners and the private sector to help those affected by the flood. But he added that "gaps still exist which require more humanitarian assistance."

Even before the heavy rains struck, Zimbabwe's government had been struggling to meet routine financial commitments.

The Associated Press reports that:

Last year, Zimbabwe faced a severe drought. It was so extreme that, as NPR's Merrit Kennedy reported in April, the country was putting some of the wild animals in its reserves up for sale. </s> Floods in Zimbabwe have killed 246 people and left nearly 2,000 homeless since December, government officials said.

Saviour Kasukuwere, minister of local government, declared a national disaster and announced the death toll on Thursday, saying 128 people have been injured in the floods.

The southern African country has appealed to international donors for $100m to help those affected by the floods, which have washed away several bridges and roads and cut off some communities from surrounding areas.

"There is an inadequate supply of tents, foodstuffs and drugs for the affected people," Kasukuwere told The Herald newspaper. "There is a need for blankets and clothing for the affected families and they are at risk of contracting pneumonia and acute respiratory infections."

Unable to get balance of payment support from foreign lenders due to unpaid arrears, and with more than 90 percent of its national budget going to salaries, Zimbabwe's public infrastructure has been crumbling for more than a decade.

"After working hard responding to the effects of drought, the same people are now suffering because of excessive floods," Bishow Parajuli, of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), told The Herald.

Transport Minister Joram Gumbo told reporters on Wednesday that in the southern parts of the country, some sections of highways and bridges were completely washed away following the latest heavy rainfall.

Gumbo said the government would raise $100m to repair the country's infrastructure. The national road agency would chip in with half of the money, which it would borrow from local banks, he said.

"The state of our roads has further deteriorated to the extent that some sections of the national road network have become impassable," Gumbo said.

READ MORE: Zimbabwe nurses join doctors' strike over unpaid bonuses

Meanwhile, health services in Zimbabwe are grinding to a halt after nurses joined a strike by doctors over unpaid bonuses.

Army medical professionals have been called in, but are struggling to deal with the number of patients.

While healthcare workers are out on the streets and the country is facing a national emergency as a result of the deadly floods, Zimbabwe's president, Robert Mugabe, is in Singapore for medical treatment.

Critics blame the perennial shortages on Mugabe's controversial land reforms which saw the seizure of white-owned farms for redistribution to landless blacks, most of whom lacked the means to farm.

Mugabe, 93, has blamed the poor yields on erratic rains due to climate change.
Since December, flooding in Zimbabwe has killed 246 people and nearly 2,000 more have been left homeless, according to officials.