Beira city in Mozambique wins award for risk preparedness

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The city of Beira in Mozambique has received the first RISK Award for its work to protect people from floods.

The 100,000 euro award is given by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), the Munich Re-Foundation and the Global Risk Forum based in Davos, Switzerland.

According to UNISDR, the 450,000 people of Beira are extremely vulnerable to floods, especially those that happen at night with little warning in townships up to 10 metres below sea level.

The head of UNISDR Margareta Wahlström says Beira received the award for implementing an effective system to warn people about floods.

"This monitoring system is an efficient system that actually immediately sends a signal or warning to people when water starts increasing above a certain level so that they can get to their houses and pick up their things and make sure they don't get taken away. So it's quite simple but it's effective and it's extremely local."

Duration: 23"