Cyclone Gloria, hovering off the west coast of Mozambique, has been downgraded to a tropical storm off the west coast of Mozambique. But even the weakened system could dump more rain on Mozambique. Feeding the hungry Hunger is now the most pressing concern for flood victims. The Associated Press reported on Sunday that fights had broken out in camps as survivors, starving after being stranded in trees and on rooftops for days, jostled for food. An estimated 250,000 people are crowded into 64 ill-equipped camps.
Aid workers report they are running out of clean water, heightening the risk of a cholera outbreaks.
The number of reported malaria cases already has tripled. The area, where up to 15,000 people are in desperate need of food and other aid, was previously neglected as relief efforts concentrated on the Limpopo River Valley farther south. There is no accurate death toll from the flooding. Aid workers said they expect to find thousands of bodies in the mud as water levels drop. Some bodies already have been exposed and are being buried in shallow graves or covered in straw.