The survivors say the effects of the flooding are worse than those of Mozambique's very brutal 16-year civil war. Then they may have had to flee the rebels, but they usually returned to find their homes intact. Now, when they return, everything is destroyed. Madeleine Mucantcho spent three days in a tree as the flood waters swept away everything she owned. Her feat was all the more remarkable because she is well into her 70s.
Some people swam away on the first day.
I've seen different floods but not like this one. Most of its villagers were eventually plucked to safety by a South African helicopter operating from a stretch of main road which has been turned into a runway just outside the town of Palmeiras. The road used to be the main route along the north coast, through Xai-Xai and on to the port of Beira. But a few kilometres beyond Palmeiras the highway was swept away by a brand new river created by the floods. Several hundred metres of road have been pummelled out of existence by the massive surge of water.