The International Red Cross is in the process of setting up an emergency fund following devastating floods in Zimbabwe which have left about 10 people killed and hundreds displaced.
Red Cross spokesman Takemore Mazuruse told VOA Studio 7 LiveTalk that more than 700 Zimbabweans have been affected by floods in Mashonaland Central and Mashonaland West provinces.
Mazuruse said the number could be higher as some cases have not yet been reported to the organization, which is looking for funds to tackle the floods.
In Tsholotsho, Matabeleland North region, lawmaker Roselyn Sipepa Nkomo told VOA LiveTalk, the situation is desperate as some villages are now homeless due to the incessant rains.
She said some of the affected villagers were among those who were displaced by floods early last year.
According to state-controlled Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, most deaths have been reported in Mashonaland West province, where a family of eight travelling in a vehicle drowned in flooded Ngwazani River in Kadoma at the weekend.
The ZBC reported that police identified those who were killed in the vehicle attempting to cross the river as Nomatter Ndodo, his wife Magneta Musariri, 2 year-old son Tawananyasha Ndodo, Edes Musariri, 9 year-old son Benedict Mhande, 4 year-old daughter Catherine Mhande, 20 month-old son Chris Mhande and Ngezi man, Ngonidzashe Gavi.
Police have also reported that 2 people were swept away by a flooded Angwa River in the same province.
Indications are that 21 families in Mucheri area, Zvimba communal lands, and 8 in Gudubu, Makonde District, are now living in the open with some being accommodated by friends and relatives.
Mashonaland West Civil Protection Unit chairman, provincial administrator Christopher Shumba, confirmed that no help has been received from their head office in Harare so far.
The province is set to hold an emergency meeting amid calls by some Zimbabweans for President Robert Mugabe to cut short his Asian leave to attend the devastating floods.
Makonde lawmaker Kindness Paradza said the floods have affected crops and large numbers of livestock as well.
