A 56-YEAR-OLD woman has spoken of her lucky escape from the floods which devastated the African country of Mozambique.

Now Mary Jonas is appealing for people to back relief efforts to support the country's embattled people.

Mrs Jonas and her travelling companion, Lewis Dunkerley, were in Mozambique just as the disaster began to take hold and barely managed to escape as flood waters rose.

The two travellers had been on a dream backpacking trip around Africa and were visiting Mozambique's capital Maputo.

Mrs Jonas, of Tranmere Drive, Guiseley, said that the waters were already rising as they entered the country and that one of the main bridges already was out. The small taxi bus which had taken them into Mozambique encountered waters up to three feet high.

"I was already wondering if we were doing the right thing. Once we got to Maputo, it became clear that there were some serious problems," she said.

"There was an atmosphere of desperation. We saw most of the city and enjoyed some time there, but there were all sorts of horror stories filtering down from other parts of the country and it became obvious that something was desperately wrong.

"We were worried that we were going to be cut off and stuck there. Then came our great escape.

"We spent hours searching for a taxi bus to take us out of there and we finally found one, absolutely packed, but luckily we managed to squeeze on. The floods were coming from behind us and we just got lucky."

Mrs Jonas said that one powerful memory was when people jammed into a church to pray.

"They were praying for deliverance from the floods. You could sense the anxiety and desperation during the service, but their songs were so uplifting and it was clear they had faith," she said.

"Many of them are so poor, faith is all they have. The church scenes were particularly poignant given what followed."

Mrs Jonas and her companion had originally been on a luxury cruise from Southampton to Cape Town when they decided to leave their life of luxury behind and spend a couple of months exploring Africa.

Mr Dunkerley, 65, of Burton-on-Trent, said they had originally wanted to visit Beira, Mozambique's second city, before cutting into Zimbabwe.

"But everything was starting to go under water and it was impossible to reach it. It was then we realised we had to leave the country," he said.

"Roads were flooding as we left and clearly the deluge was coming. We had thought about going to the Kreuger National Park, but that was closed because of flooding and the rangers were frantically trying to save the animals. In many ways we were lucky to get out."

Both the travellers are now backing appeals for money to help the flood victims.

Mrs Jonas said: "They need every help. It is a poor country with lots of deprivation and they deserve and need every penny they can get. We met some lovely people there. If you get a natural disaster like this on top of such poverty, people have no other option but to stand on top of huts or cling onto trees for their lives."

Donations can be sent to any of the main agencies or by calling 0870 6060900.

l Wharfedale and Aireborough schools rally round to help Mozambique victims - Page 5.

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