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dam-l Dam floods Namibian town/LS



DAM FLOODS NAMIBIAN TOWN, 80 FAMILIES EVACUATED
WINDHOEK 1 March 2000 Sapa-AFP

     The southern Namibian town of Mariental was flooded Wednesday and
     several hundred people evacuated after authorities were forced to
     release water from a nearby dam, full after heavy rains.

     Eighty families were evacuated from the western section of the
     town, about 300 kilometres (186 miles) south of the capital
     Windhoek, Mariental local authority spokeswoman Catherine Boois
     said on state radio.

     Heavy rain has fallen in normally dry Namibia since Sunday when
     the remnants of Cyclone Eline, which brought devastation to
     Mozambique and Zimbabwe, started to pass over the country.

     Mariental is located next to the Hardap Dam, Namibia's largest
     reservoir, which has filled to capacity, forcing water engineers
     to open sluice gates to release water in a controlled way.

     Residents were also forced to evacuate the town on February 19
     when water was released from the dam after earlier rains.

     The flooding of Mariental has also forced the closure of the main
     road link between the capital Windhoek and South Africa, which
     passes through the town.

     The rains have also washed away a section of the country's main
     railway line at about 150 kilometres (93 miles) south of Windhoek
     and all train services to South Africa and towns in southern
     Namibia have been cancelled, the national transport company
     TransNamib said.

     The cyclone, downgraded to a low pressure system soon after it
     entered southern Africa early last wek, has wrought havoc in the
     region, already drenched by heavy rains at the beginning of
     February.

     Flooding in the region has claimed at least 379 lives, and left
     about a million people in need of aid in Mozambique alone.


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      Lori Pottinger, Director, Southern Africa Program,
        and Editor, World Rivers Review
           International Rivers Network
              1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, California 94703, USA
                  Tel. (510) 848 1155   Fax (510) 848 1008
                        http://www.irn.org
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