Low-lying areas along the Lua Lua River in the district of Mopeia suffered mass flooding in January 2015 after heavy rainfall struck the area. As a result, approximately 4,000 families in the area were forced to leave their homes in search of safe locations in higher grounds. The National Institute for Disaster Management (INGC) worked with local government to establish four official relocation communities within the district to house internally displaced persons (IDPs), however the majority of families remain in seven accommodation centers. Currently 3,306 displaced families are housed in the 11 relocation sites within the district.
Although the total population has fallen only slightly over the past months, many IDPs are dividing their time between their new homes in relocation sites and the area of their former residences where agricultural activities are more prolific. Many families leave for a number of days at a time in order to tend to crops in low-lying areas. This scenario leads to ebbs and flows in the population present in relocation sites at any given point in time. Despite this fact, the stated intention of the majority of IDPs is to remain permanently in the relocation sites, with most families citing safety concerns as the reason impeding a full-time return to their areas of origin.
Three relocation sites are located in proximity to the national highway within the locality of Lua-Lua, while the remaining eight communities are dispersed near the river in the locality of Campo Sede.
Signs of positive development are evident as nine of the sites have formed site management committees to organize matters within the community. The work of clearing and organizing streets has begun, primarily in the sites of Posto Campo I and II. Further, all 11 locations benefit from organized security structures to protect residents, leading men, women and children in all relocation sites to separately report that they feel safe.
Water access is a challenge for most IDPs in Mopeia—displaced families in six locations indicated that the average person uses less than 10 liters of water per day. Three communities (1 de Maio, Chiurine and Mudiba) retrieve drinking water from open wells that were dug by hand and do not supply potable water. Other sites report access to manual water pumps, yet state that the water supply is not sufficient for all displaced families and neighboring communities. Concerns also exist in regards to the health of IDPs. Unsurprisingly malaria was noted as the most prevalent health problem amongst displaced families in the district and discouragingly five sites reported less than half of families possessing mosquito nets.