Floods in Zimbabwe have killed 246 people and left nearly 2,000 homeless since December, government officials said.

Saviour Kasukuwere, minister of local government, declared a national disaster and announced the death toll on Thursday, saying 128 people have been injured in the floods.

The southern African country has appealed to international donors for $100m to help those affected by the floods, which have washed away several bridges and roads and cut off some communities from surrounding areas.

"There is an inadequate supply of tents, foodstuffs and drugs for the affected people," Kasukuwere told The Herald newspaper. "There is a need for blankets and clothing for the affected families and they are at risk of contracting pneumonia and acute respiratory infections."

Unable to get balance of payment support from foreign lenders due to unpaid arrears, and with more than 90 percent of its national budget going to salaries, Zimbabwe's public infrastructure has been crumbling for more than a decade.

"After working hard responding to the effects of drought, the same people are now suffering because of excessive floods," Bishow Parajuli, of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), told The Herald.

Transport Minister Joram Gumbo told reporters on Wednesday that in the southern parts of the country, some sections of highways and bridges were completely washed away following the latest heavy rainfall.

Gumbo said the government would raise $100m to repair the country's infrastructure. The national road agency would chip in with half of the money, which it would borrow from local banks, he said.

"The state of our roads has further deteriorated to the extent that some sections of the national road network have become impassable," Gumbo said.

READ MORE: Zimbabwe nurses join doctors' strike over unpaid bonuses

Meanwhile, health services in Zimbabwe are grinding to a halt after nurses joined a strike by doctors over unpaid bonuses.

Army medical professionals have been called in, but are struggling to deal with the number of patients.

While healthcare workers are out on the streets and the country is facing a national emergency as a result of the deadly floods, Zimbabwe's president, Robert Mugabe, is in Singapore for medical treatment.

Critics blame the perennial shortages on Mugabe's controversial land reforms which saw the seizure of white-owned farms for redistribution to landless blacks, most of whom lacked the means to farm.

Mugabe, 93, has blamed the poor yields on erratic rains due to climate change.</s>Zimbabwe says floods have killed 246 people and left nearly 2,000 homeless since December.</s>For months, they pleaded for rain. Now they're dying from the downpour. Floods in Zimbabwe have killed nearly 250 people since December in regions that were recently suffering from drought.

This southern African country this week appealed to international donors for $100 million to help those affected by the floods, which have washed away bridges and roads and cut off some communities. President Robert Mugabe, currently in Singapore for a medical checkup, declared the floods to be a national disaster.

Just last year, a regional drought largely induced by the El Niño weather phenomenon killed livestock and forced people to forage for food in forests and seek drinking water from parched riverbeds in many parts of Zimbabwe.

Desperate for rainfall, some people revived a long-abandoned tradition, dating to pre-colonial times, of rain-making rituals. In parts of Zimbabwe, traditional leaders and spirit mediums, with the support of the government, led ceremonies atop mountains and other sacred places to appeal to ancestral spirits for rain.

Many others who do not believe in the traditional rituals held Christian prayers.

"Our people had forgotten their culture because of Westernization. See, now the ancestors responded, the heavens have opened in a big way. It is for the government to deal with the problems caused by the floods," said George Kandiero, president of Zimbabwe's traditional healers association.

Since December, floods caused by heavy rains have killed 246 people, injured 128 and left nearly 2,000 homeless, Saviour Kasukuwere, Zimbabwe's minister of local government, said Thursday.

The floods have mainly affected southern Zimbabwe, where the air force has transported some marooned villagers to safety. Some people are unable to reach clinics and schools. Dams have overflowed, raising concerns about communities living downstream.

Nationwide, five bridges on major highways have been swept away, transportation minister Joram Gumbo said.

"Our roads have deteriorated to the extent that some sections of the national road network have become impassable," Zimbabwe's Daily News newspaper quoted Gumbo as saying.

Roads in some urban areas were already littered with potholes, and the flooding has made it even harder to get around by car. In January, some mansions in the affluent Borrowdale suburb of the capital, Harare, were flooded, while a number of cars were swept from driveways and walls were destroyed by rains.

Zimbabwe's cash-strapped government is already struggling to meet routine commitments such as the payment of state workers' salaries. Thousands of nurses in state hospitals went on strike this week over a lack of bonus payments, straining an already dire situation at the poorly resourced hospitals.

State hospital doctors have been on strike since Feb. 15, forcing the government to send in army and police doctors to care for patients.

Iraqi commanders say a spot in the desert is key to winning control of the city of Mosul</s>Families receive supplies in Tsholotsho after they were rescued following floods in this Friday, Feb. 24, 2017 photo made available by UNICEF Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe says floods have killed 246 people and left 2,000 homeless since December.

Start the conversation, or Read more at SFGate.</s>For months, they pleaded for rain. Now they're dying from the downpour. Floods in Zimbabwe have killed nearly 250 people since December in regions that were recently suffering from drought.

Start the conversation, or Read more at The Tribune.</s>March 03, 2017 2:32 AM Associated Press FILE - Zimbabwe's Minister of Youth Development, Indigenization and Empowerment Saviour Kasukuwere speaks during the Reuters Africa Investment Summit in Sandton, April 16, 2012. HARARE, ZIMBABWE - Floods in Zimbabwe have killed 246 people and left nearly 2,000 homeless since December, according to the government.

Start the conversation, or Read more at UAport.</s>HARARE, Zimbabwe - Floods in Zimbabwe have killed 246 people and left nearly 2,000 homeless since December, according to the government.

The southern African country has appealed to international donors for $100 million to help those affected by the floods, which have washed away some bridges and roads and cut off some communities from surrounding areas.

Saviour Kasukuwere, Zimbabwe’s minister of local government, announced the death toll on Thursday. He says 128 people were injured in the floods, which were caused by heavy rains.

President Robert Mugabe, currently in Singapore for a medical checkup, declared the floods to be a national disaster this week.

The floods have mainly affected southern Zimbabwe, where the air force has transported some marooned villagers to safety. Dams have also overflowed, raising concerns about communities living downstream.

Five bridges on major highways have been swept away nationwide, Transport Minister Joram Gumbo said.

“Our roads have deteriorated to the extent that some sections of the national road network have become impassable,” Zimbabwe’s Daily News newspaper quoted Gumbo as saying.

Zimbabwe’s cash-strapped government is already struggling to meet routine commitments such as the payment of state workers’ salaries.

Also, thousands of nurses in state hospitals in Zimbabwe went on strike this week over a lack of bonus payments, straining an already dire situation at the poorly resourced hospitals. State hospital doctors have been on strike since Feb. 15, forcing the government to send in army and police doctors to care for patients.</s>Zimbabwe says floods have killed 246 people and left nearly 2,000 homeless since December.

The southern African country has appealed to international donors for $100 million to help those affected by the floods, which have washed away some bridges and roads and cut off some communities from surrounding areas.

Saviour Kasukuwere, Zimbabwe's minister of local government, declared a national disaster and announced the death toll on Thursday. He says 128 people have been injured in the floods.</s>A woman and her baby walk past a tent in Tsholotsho after she was rescued following floods in this Friday, Feb. 24, 2017 photo made available by UNICEF Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe says floods have killed 246 people and left 2,000 homeless since December.

Start the conversation, or Read more at GlobalNews.</s>Severe flooding and lightning strikes have killed about 250 people and left close to 2,000 homeless in Zimbabwe since October, according to the government.

More than 100 people have been injured.

As NPR's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton reports, officials have declared a national disaster and appealed to international donors for $100 million to help flood-stricken areas.

Zimbabwe's minister of local government, Saviour Kasukuwere, said in a statement Thursday that the crisis stems from "an astounding shift from a drought condition to an excessively wet situation." Heavy rains had already soaked the region when Tropical Cyclone Dineo raked across southern Africa last month.

According to government figures, the severe weather has damaged more than 2,500 homesteads, 74 schools and five health institutions.

Kasukuwere said some communities have been cut off from social services and that there was an urgent need for blankets, clothing, food aid and access to safe water.

"Most roads have been turned into gullies and almost all districts have reported areas that are inaccessible following the collapse of bridges," he said.

The country's transportation minister said five bridges had been swept away by the floodwaters, Ofeibea reports.

"The affected populations are in dire need of assistance to rebuild their homes, rehabilitation of social institutions as well as recover lost property and livelihoods," Kasukuwere said.

He said his ministry is working with U.N. agencies, nongovernmental organizations, other government agencies, development partners and the private sector to help those affected by the flood. But he added that "gaps still exist which require more humanitarian assistance."

Even before the heavy rains struck, Zimbabwe's government had been struggling to meet routine financial commitments.

The Associated Press reports that:

Last year, Zimbabwe faced a severe drought. It was so extreme that, as NPR's Merrit Kennedy reported in April, the country was putting some of the wild animals in its reserves up for sale.
Since December, flooding in Zimbabwe has killed 246 people and nearly 2,000 more have been left homeless, according to officials.