'We start again with nothing': The trauma of Mozambique's recurrent floods

When the raging river broke its banks in Mozambique's Gaza Province, Celina Guaza grabbed the plastic bag she had already packed, hoisted her granddaughter onto her back and ran.

Muddy brown floodwater swallowed the floor of her home in no time. A photo album full of family memories, land ownership documents and her birth certificate – all were consigned to the hungry tide.

This wasn't the first time she had been uprooted. In 2000, Celina lost her homestead to floods. Calamity struck again 13 years later when Cyclone Favio wiped out her crops. Now, in 2026, the waters had seemingly returned to sweep away whatever little remained.

"The wind blows, the water rises, and we must start again with nothing," Celina tells TRT Afrika from the converted school classroom where she now shelters alongside dozens of other displaced families.

Since the start of the year, severe flooding has repeatedly engulfed southern and central Mozambique, displacing approximately 392,000 people.

The crisis has affected regions already battered by cyclones and drought, compounding a national emergency stoked by conflict in the north that displaced more than 300,000 people in just the latter half of 2025.

Speed and scale

The latest round of flooding arrived with terrifying speed.

"Children were crying, the elderly were stumbling, but there was no time to even think. We ran to save ourselves. In the panic, my nephew was lost for two days," recalls João Nhabanga from Maputo Province. "We found him in another centre, shivering. But I wonder how many others were not so lucky?"

Preventive measures and a rapid government-led response, backed by humanitarian partners and the private sector, averted greater tragedy. Nearly 20,000 people were evacuated by air, water and road.

An estimated 100,000 people now crowd into around 100 temporary sites – mostly schools and public buildings – and await rehabilitation.

Overcrowding in these shelters breeds new dangers. Sanitation is strained, privacy non-existent and basic services lacking. In these congested spaces, women and girls face the additional threat of gender-based violence and exploitation.

Deepening trauma

For most of those affected, the fresh spell of displacement has reopened wounds inflicted by past disasters.

"The psychological toll is deepening," says Dr Anabela Silva, a public health coordinator working in the shelters. "We see children who won't speak and elderly people who have lost the will to eat. This is not their first experience of displacement. The shelters are not designed for this, and our mental health resources are stretched far too thin to help alleviate the distress."

Beyond the relief camps, the situation is even more desperate. Thousands of people are stranded in areas cut off from the rest of the country because of submerged roads and collapsed bridges. The destruction of critical infrastructure – water supply systems, clinics and schools – has created additional pockets of vulnerability.

Humanitarian efforts, already strained by the concurrent conflict in the north, are hamstrung by access constraints and funding shortfalls.

Ongoing threat

The UN Refugee Agency UNHCR has deployed mobile protection teams in flood-ravaged areas like Gaza Province to identify those most at risk. The agency's efforts are focused on strengthening prevention and response mechanisms, including psychosocial support.

But such is the scale of the disaster that these initiatives are falling short of what is required. Humanitarian agencies say Mozambique needs support from the international community to scale up life-saving assistance, ease the burden on overstretched host communities and rehabilitate families like Celina's.

The southern African nation's recurrent battle with floods underscores its vulnerability at the convergence of climate and conflict. With more rain forecast, the threat of another bout of devastation isn't ruled out.

As she looks out of the crowded shelter, her granddaughter clinging to her side, Celina's voice carries a semblance of hope that has somehow survived the onslaught of repeated disasters.

"I have run from floods three times in my life. Each time, it has tried to take everything, but not our will to rebuild. This time, with some help, we will build our house on stronger ground – for my granddaughter and generations to come," she tells TRT Afrika.