Mozambique: Floods, storms kill 22 and cut off Maputo

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — Storms and floods in Mozambique have killed 22 people and forced tens of thousands from their homes.

Disaster relief workers said today that 12 people died Sunday in the central province of Zambezia after Cyclone Funso hit the southern African country's coast, the Associated Press reported.

Funso was expected to continue battering the central and northern coastline with heavy rains and gusts of up to 75 miles per hour.

More from GlobalPost: Mozambique: Flooding from Tropical Storm Dando kills 5, displaces thousands

Last week, 10 people were reported killed in the aftermath of tropical depression Dando, which caused severe flooding in Mozambique and in parts of neighboring South Africa.

Six people were killed in the floods in South Africa's Mpumalanga province, the South African Press Association reported.

The Mozambique News Agency (AIM) reported today that road access to Mozambique's capital, Maputo, was cut off after floodwaters from the Komati River and its tributaries swamped the country's main north-south highway as well as other roads.

Communication lines and water pipes have also been affected by the floods. SAPA said that about 70,000 people have had their drinking water supply disrupted.

Radio Mozambique said its government is feeding and housing more than 56,000 people whose homes were destroyed.

The storms have brought back memories of terrible flooding 12 years ago, also caused by a tropical storm, that was the worst disaster in Mozambique's history.

At least 700 people died and a million were displaced in the Mozambique flood of 2000.

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