Angola Floods Kill Three, Displace Thousands

Floods are common during Angola`s October-April rainy season, often causing severe damage to infrastructure in Luanda.

Floods caused by almost a week of heavy rain killed at least three people and displaced over 3,800 families in southern and western Angola, the state-owned Jornal de Angola reported on Friday.

Wide areas of Cunene, an agricultural province bordering Namibia, were inundated by the rain which destroyed bridges and forced schools to be shut down in the region, Joao Silva, head of the region's civil protection service, was quoted as saying.

Silva said authorities had set up hundreds of tents for the homeless in Cunene, most of whom lived off subsistence-level farming in poor communities on the countryside.

Floods are common during Angola's October-April rainy season, often causing severe damage to infrastructure in Luanda, where one third of nation's 16.5 million people live.

Last month, two children died and at least 415 people lost their homes after floods caused by heavy rains swept through Luanda.

Authorities across the country remain on alert as heavy rain is expected to continue in coming days.