"If the Zambezi river continues growing, the situation can be worse than in 2001. Because, as opposed to 2001, the situation is happening when the rainy season is not yet at its peak."

Incessant downpours have lashed Mozambique since the start of the year, claiming 29 lives, flooding vast swathes of the coastal nation and rendering more than 46,000 homeless.

Authorities in the central town of Tete, bearing the brunt of the 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 flowing above the 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 national water directorate said the dam's management had started discharging more than 6,000 litres of water per minute from Wednesday, which is higher than the level of discharge during the devastating 2001 floods.

According to the National Institute of Calamities Management, 29 people have died thus far in flash flooding or from electrocution and about 46,500 people have seen their homes washed away.

Amarildo Romao, a 31-year-old journalist living in flood-washed Tete, told AFP: "The situation is very dramatic.

"It is not raining in town but there is a lot of rain coming from Zumbo," the area where the Zambezi enters Mozambique from Zambia and Zimbabwe.

"The downtown hotels are all flooded ... The wine, oil and soap factories are also partially flooded."

"People who live on islands on the Zambezi have all moved away. Their houses are also flooded."

The upper sections of Tete, where most of the residential areas are located, have been largely untouched by the rising waters.

Prime Minister Diogo meanwhile underlined that the impoverished country, which is emerging from the ashes of a 16-year civil war which ended in 1992, was better prepared to tackle floods this time around.

"There is a huge difference. In 2001, our early warning systems were not working so well. There has been a vast improvement," she said, adding the top priority for the government would be the evacuation of those living on the banks of the river.

The prime minister however said it was too early to launch a call for international help or declare a natural disaster.

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