With months of furious labor, the main road to Xai Xai that washed away in massive floods earlier this year was finally reopened. A month later, it is already in danger again. The rains that began several weeks ago have eaten into the red earthen dams that support much of the road as it spans the Limpopo River.
Deep crevices creep within two feet of the thin layer of asphalt.
Sandbags reinforcing the dirt have burst open. Earlier this year, a series of cyclones caused rivers to flood, flattening much of southern and central Mozambique, killing 700 people, destroying tens of thousands of homes and ravaging the farmland many here rely on for survival. No one is predicting rainfall anywhere near that level now. Forecasts for this rainy season, which runs through March, call for average or slightly above average rainfall. But that might be enough to send the rivers over their banks again.