Mozambique Flood Diary
Mozambique flood situation14.01.08, by Andy Mayo Severe flooding has once again struck Central Mozambique and there is ongoing flooding in Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Malawi - all countries and areas that HoverAid has worked in previously. Last year we worked with Oxfam along the Zambezi river in Mozambique, and this is the section of river worst affected again this year. Madagascar is also facing floods, and HoverAid made the strategic decision to relocate our hovercraft River Rover 403 from Mozambique to Madagascar during 2007. At this time it is likely that flooding will occur in Madagascar over the next two months, affecting a large population, with few resources, and without the level of support afforded by major aid organisations such as Oxfam, and WorldVision in other parts of Southern Africa. Madagascar is often overlooked and under-reported, often facing situations every bit as grave as in countries on the continental mainland. HoverAid has been helping Oxfam with flood analysis, and both hovercraft are available for airlift to the current flood zone should the situation become critical. At present the floods are on a par with those of 2007, and they may become worse. Our aim is for HoverAid to grow over the coming year so that we do not have to decide between these two countries, but can give both the support and help they need. Please consider supporting us as we prepare for flood relief work in Madagascar, or you may wish to support Wings Like Eagles, using helicopters in the flood relief effort.
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19.03.07 Report received from Andy Mayo in Mozambique, 16th March 2007 River Rover 403 has been working this week in conjunction with Oxfam. Several reconnaissance missions have been flown, but the main work has been anti-malarial. As the water starts to recede people are beginning to return to their homes. This is "mosquito heaven". It is not possible for wheeled vehicles or boats to operate, although a hovercraft is in its element. and so HoverAid has been involved in spraying operations to prevent the spread of disease. |
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10.03.07 Report received from Andy Mayo in Mozambique, 10th March 2007 Arrived in Caia late last night / this morning. We have hooked up with Oxfam and we expect to have the craft on the water later today. We are trying to work out the best location to operate from. Oxfam seem happy but we need to establish the best way to make use of the craft. Mutarara further upstream looks like another option and Oxfam are having access problems there. Jack Saenen, World Food Programme (WFP) logistics head has now seen the craft, as has another senior WFP guy who worked with LCAC's from the US military in East Timor (slightly larger hovercraft at 60 tonnes payload) so he knows what sorts of things they can do. There is a possibility (from the way Oxfam are talking) that we may be here for some weeks, so we will need to think about crew rotations. Carlos and I are relatively well rested after staying in the Oxfam house last night; Maxwell and Nicholas, our drivers, drove like heroes last night. My concern now is support for the vehicle - we have brought everything with us except for anything to do with the RTK which remains in Norton. We do not have a comprehensive tool kit, but we have plenty of spare filters, skirt material, bolts, drive belts, bearings, shafts etc. The blue support trailer was a headache as a trailer so we cut the chassis off it and turned it into a large tool box which is now sitting on the back of the truck. We will have difficulty moving it around but at least it has made it this far. It has a very limited range of tools in it so we could have problems if we break stuff, however we should be able to beg, borrow or acquire what we need. We aim to get on the water and do a shakedown today and once we know the craft is really operating properly in these conditions we can get to work. However we need to do some tweaks to the craft – having come down from altitude at Harare we have too much lift and not enough thrust here, so we are very bouncy and consequently getting through hump is tricky. Once above hump it takes a while to accelerate. Plenty of power and so far no overheating issues. The hovercraft trailer has been welded and refitted so that it now works very nicely. "We need to move our people from the bases to the areas where people are still cut off. We have two places that no one has been able to get to at all...not even by helicopter. We have no idea how many people remain affected, but we think it is several thousand in these areas" "We need to do recce trips. People are shifting, moving back to their villages, but as the water recedes there are areas we can't get to by boat anymore. The river has changed course and it is a challenge to sail - people are getting lost, and running aground. There are four sites where we know there are people, but we do not know exactly where they are. The guides know the way by foot but in a helicopter they can't work it out. Even the small helicopter costs US$750/hour so it's very expensive to use, and not effective." There is a lot of activity but moving people and equipment remains a bottleneck. It is raining now, and has rained hard for the last three days. There is a real need we can answer. |
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09.03.07 Update from Andy Mayo in Mozambique, 9th March 2007 Hovercraft RR403 got safely across the border into Mozambique this morning, and is en route to Caia (on the Zambezi, about 200km slightly East of North from Beira). |
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01.03.07 Report received from Andy Mayo, 1st March 2007 Andy arrived in Zimbabwe last Sunday morning and joined Carl (Carlos) Ramsey, who had flown in from Madagascar the day before. They are working in Calum Fraser’s workshops at Norton, 40km south west of Harare, where the hovercraft has been stored since the last time it was deployed, for the floods in 2001. They have been assisted by four of the Calum’s employees. River Rover 403 is in good condition generally and the engine fired without difficulty. One of the bearings runs warm but they are happy that it does not need changing now. The engine cooling system seems OK. Lift has been compromised by the addition of large buoyancy bags under the skirt – half an inflatable boat each side! These have now been removed and the fans modified to improve performance. RR403’s trailer needed some work, which was done with the help of Abiot, one of the local helpers and a very skilled welder. New tyres and a spare wheel are required. A second hovercraft, the small RTK, is also in the workshop and appears complete. There is a big container of spares, plus navigation equipment. Paperwork for the trailer is now in order and the hope is that the trailer can therefore be moved to the Mozambique border very soon. Emergency travel documents for the drivers may take a little longer, though. The current plan is for Peter van Buuren to travel direct to Mozambique from Madagascar and start preparing the way for operations. Hopefully this will be quite near to the border where they cross, to minimise towing costs, but if necessary they can go to the coast. Until the operating costs of the hovercraft are picked up by one of the big aid agencies working on flood relief, the expenses of getting the hovercraft into position and maintaining the crew must be borne by HoverAid. Your continued support is therefore much appreciated. |
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26.02.07 The latest report from Andy Mayo: Andy arrived safely at Harare, but the discovery that there were no trolleys at the airport meant he had to carry his bags (3 at 23kg each!) out himself. On arrival at the Hovercraft compound, they ran up the engine on RR403. The middle bearings are noisy, but they do have spares. They have got the hovercraft off the trailer. The trailer needs work so that they can hover on and off. They are removing very large buoyancy bags from under the deck as these are constraining lift. The hovercraft is generally in good shape. |
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24.02.07 HoverAid director Andy Mayo has jetted out to Harare, Zimbabwe, today. HoverAid's intention is to bring Hovercraft River Rover 403 from its current location into neighbouring, flood struck Mozambique. |