XAI-XAI, Mozambique -- Police in inflatable boats brought residents to their flood-stricken homes Thursday to salvage some possessions, but the town could face more misery as a fresh surge of water reportedly headed down the Limpopo River.
The Limpopo, which burst its banks last month, was rising again after heavy rains upstream in Zimbabwe and South Africa, said Foreign Minister Leonardo Simao, who has been overseeing relief efforts in this impoverished southeast African nation. The flooding was expected to hit some areas as soon as Thursday, he said.Most people in the town of Chokwe, in south-central Mozambique near the Limpopo, had heeded warnings to flee to higher ground, aid workers said. The town was hit by a wall of water on Feb. 27 and became submerged within hours.
But in Xai-Xai, near where the Limpopo empties into the Indian Ocean, residents appeared unconcerned about the warnings. They noted that they could quickly move to high ground, unlike residents of Chokwe, where the terrain is flat.
As of Thursday, officials confirmed 640 flood-related deaths, said Antonio Macheve, a spokesman for the National Disaster Management Institute. The figure was expected to rise further as the water recedes, he said.
"We think there are more bodies under the water," he said.
Sections of Xai-Xai are still under water, and police took residents of those areas to their homes so they could retrieve documents and other important possessions. They found three bodies inside partially submerged huts -- victims of last month's flooding, said Manuel Figueiredo, a local water department official.
Other residents waded through the mud, dismantled their reed homes and moved them to higher ground.
Pilots took off Thursday morning from the airport in the capital, Maputo, to conduct an aerial surveillance of the Limpopo River, said Abby Spring, a spokeswoman for the U.N. World Food Program.
"Weather remains the No. 1 concern for us," Spring said. "Each day, we're monitoring to prevent further loss of life."
During last month's floods -- the worst on record in Mozambique -- thousands of people were forced to seek refuge in trees and on rooftops until they were rescued by helicopters.
The government had urged people to stay away from low-lying areas until the rainy season ends late this month, but an estimated 10,000 Chokwe residents returned anyway.
Now almost all of them have left again after government warnings that began Monday. Most moved to Chaqualane village further south, on higher ground.
Ian Macleod of UNICEF said the rate at which water was being released into the Limpopo from the Massingir Dam on Mozambique's western border had more than quadrupled between Sunday and Tuesday.
U.S. Air Force spokesman Lt. Col. Tom Dolney said two helicopters were on standby at Maputo airport for rescue missions.
Officials also feared renewed flooding in Mozambique's devastated central region, where the levels of the Buzi, Save and Pungue rivers were rising.
"All road access has been cut off. At this point, they are not saying it's a life-threatening situation, but it will require careful monitoring," said Aya Shneerson of the U.N. World Food Program, who flew over the area Wednesday.