However Belarmino Chivambo, a spokesman from the national disaster management institute, told AFP that authorities were better able to cope than during the deluges in 2000-2001 that claimed more than 700 lives.

"According to our estimation, 285,000 people are potentially under risk in the (Zambezi) river basin in four provinces: Tete, Zambezia, Manica and Sofala," he said.

"Up to now, 61,000 people have been displaced," Chivambo added. "What we are doing is to organise the conditions to accommodate all the people."

Incessant downpours have lashed Mozambique since the start of the year, claiming 29 lives and flooding vast swathes of the coastal nation.

Chivambo said the coming three weeks could be "critical."

"We are worried because the peak of rainfall season is end February-early March. We are reaching the levels that we usually reach in mid-March."

But he said, "We are much more ready to cope compared to 2000 and 2001," he said, adding that "we have learnt some lessons."

"We are well connected with our neighbours, mainly Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe. We are receiving accurate information. The IT technology is much more developed."

Authorities in the central town of Tete, bearing the brunt of flash floods, urged people living along the banks of the Zambezi to leave their homes but the call went largely unheeded, residents told AFP by telephone.

Meanwhile, the National Water Directorate said the water levels on the Zambezi were above danger level, forcing the management of the giant Cahora Bassa dam to increase the outflow of water to prevent the dam from bursting.

Cahora Bassa, built during Portuguese colonial rule, is one of Africa's largest hydroelectric projects.

Located on the Zambezi River, the dam has created a 2,000-square-kilometre (800-square-mile) artifical lake which stretches to the point where the borders of Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe converge. It produces some 2,000 megawatts of power annually.

The UN World Food Programme Friday made an impassioned plea for aid, saying floods across southern Africa were causing havoc for tens of thousands of people.

"The worst flooding is in the central region of Mozambique. Persistent heavy rains in central and northern Mozambique and neighbouring Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe over the last three weeks have flooded the Zambezi, Chire and Rivubue rivers," a statement said.

"WFP is responding to the localised flooding across southern Africa but we are particularly concerned about the worsening situation in Mozambique which has yet to hit peak levels and is still being fed by rains in neighbouring countries," said Amir Abdulla, WFP regional director.

The agency said some 285,000 people in Mozambique could need food aid in the coming months, adding that the "severity of the flooding in Mozambique will require urgent additional funding."

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