Heavy rains block Air Force helicopter patrol

An Air Force of Zimbabwe helicopter commissioned to assess the impact of floods in affected areas of Mash Central Province yesterday failed to reach its destinations due to incessant rains and dark clouds that engulfed the area.

The pilot had to land at Centenary Business Centre where journalists, Civil Protection Unit members and police and spent the better of the day camped.  

Meanwhile, the Zimbabwe Red Cross Society (ZRCS) yesterday said it had started rolling out relief materials such as tents, blankets and toiletries to hundreds of families displaced by floods in Mashonaland West and Mashonaland Central provinces.

ZRCS spokesperson Takemore Mazuruse said the society's volunteers were also helping with the construction of shelters for people whose houses were washed away in the floods.

He, however, said they were still carrying out an assessment exercise to establish the extent of the needs and required intervention.

The Civil Protection Unit (CPU) says over 300 families have been affected by floods countrywide due to incessant rains.

Mazuruse said they had since established that in Kapembere, 56 homes were destroyed, in Chiwenga 39, Maungaunga 25, Dambakurima 43 and four homes in Chadereka in Mashonaland Central.