However, the disaster relief community agrees that the death toll in Mozambique alone will probably climb into the thousands once the floodwaters recede sufficiently for assessments. The U.S. Embassy in Zimbabwe declared a disaster on February 29. Local authorities have warned populations along the Zambezi River, and evacuated 200 families in the district of Chinde due to a rise in the water level as a preventive measure. Effective disease surveillance systems will need to be further established to monitor health issues. The road from Vilanculos to Beira is currently passable, and the road between Macia and Chokwe should be repaired by March 9 which would facilitate future deliveries of assistance.
Water supply is therefore available, but there are no water bladders.
Due to no immediate requirement for search and rescue, boat crews have transitioned to transporting relief commodities to populations only accessible by water. Due to current tide levels, the team decided to limit operations to the high tide period. The number of affected people in Botswana is estimated at 73,000. The heavy rains continued through March 1. Midlands Province was also adversely affected.