Floods in southern Africa have killed about 45 people in a growing humanitarian crisis that has engulfed the region and brought renewed appeals for Western financial help.
Heavy rains have caused rivers in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Malawi to burst, killing three people in Malawi since Friday and forcing hundreds of others to flee their homes.
Heavy downpours are common in southern Africa during the rainy season, which runs generally from November to April, but the relentless rain is unusual and has caught officials off guard.
In Zimbabwe, state media have reported 27 people have been killed by floods but relief officials have not confirmed the figure. Some victims in the region were killed by crocodiles.
Twelve people have been killed and tens of thousands displaced in Mozambique in the last two weeks, the national relief agency says. UN agencies say three have been killed in Zambia.
In Malawi, floods swept away livestock and inundated agricultural land.
Lowford Palani, the acting commissioner in Malawi's flooded Chikwawa district said more than 200 people in 24 villages in the southern district had been displaced since last week when heavy rains caused the Shire and other rivers to overflow.