Linhas Aéreas de Moçambique (LAM) has announced it will operate a special flight on the Maputo – Xai-Xai route (Gaza Province) in response to flooding that on Saturday (17 January) caused the suspension of road traffic on National Road Number 1 (N1), between Incoluane and 3 de Fevereiro, isolating Maputo from the rest of the country. In a statement, LAM says the special flight is scheduled for this Monday (19 January), departing Maputo for Xai-Xai at 2 pm, with a return to Maputo at 3:35 pm. The service is intended for the “transport of essential goods and passengers, including technical teams and other cases considered urgent by the competent authorities.” “This operation results from the impossibility of road circulation on the Gaza – Maputo section, currently the only provincial route not served by regular flights, and aims to support ongoing actions within the emergency response,” the LAM statement reads.
Given the country’s flooding situation, LAM reaffirms its readiness to provide support within its operational capabilities, expressing solidarity with the affected populations. In a statement, ANE announced “the immediate suspension of traffic for all types of vehicles” on the Incoluane – 3 de Fevereiro section, in the region of Manhiça, Maputo province, on the border with Gaza province, southern Mozambique. According to ANE, the rise in the flow of the Incomáti River has flooded a stretch of approximately three kilometres of the N1, and technical teams have already been deployed to monitor the situation.
South of Maputo, the N2 is also closed to traffic due to flooding, with hundreds of people stranded in the region of Boane. At least 103 people have died and 173,000 have been affected since the start of the rainy season in Mozambique, with 1,160 houses completely destroyed and more than 4,000 partially flooded, the government said on Friday, declaring a national red alert.
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