Contact: Paul Montacute, Baptist World Aid, 703-790-8980, bwa@bwanet.org

FALLS CHURCH, Va., Feb. 27 /Christian Newswire/ -- Heavy rains have fallen for several weeks in southern Africa causing the Zambezi River to break its banks, and flooding the central region of Mozambique.

The floods are displacing people and animals and destroying homes and crops.

The government has declared a state of emergency and estimates that 300,000 to 500,000 people are affected by the floods. Over 120,000 Mozambicans have been forced to leave their homes and at least 40 have been killed.

Cyclone Favio, the largest ever to hit Mozambique, made landfall on Thursday, bringing further devastation to the flood-ravaged country. There are fears that flooding could become more severe as rains from the storm head towards the Zambezi River region.

Displaced persons are in desperate need of shelter, food and water. The Baptist Convention of Mozambique is providing maize flour, cooking oil, beans and salt to around 2,600 families in and around the Caia District, using one of the local churches as a distribution point.

Baptist World Aid has sent an initial contribution of $5,000 to support the convention's relief efforts.