At least 10 villagers, including two children, were still trapped on a mole along the course of the river after floodwaters washed away a number of villages following breaches in the Mutirikwi River.
Roads are impassable and a busy road used by sugar cane haulage trucks has been closed to traffic.
Met department officials said floods are unusual in the Lowveld region but abnormally high rainfall activity had triggered flooding.
The Airforce of Zimbabwe has been deployed in many areas to assist the authorities to move stranded people to safety, with helicopters dropping essential supplies to people who have been marooned.
But the 10 stranded in Mutirikwi could not be immediately rescued ostensibly because of a shortage of helicopters that were overwhelmed with relief efforts in Manicaland, which has also been devastated by heavy rains and flooding that has left 900 stranded.
Airforce spokesman Flight Lieutenant Matimgwina was not immediately available for comment.
Officials say at least 10 villages in the Lowveld have been marooned after flood waters entered them. Television footage showed carcasses of cattle lying in the receding water.
“The situation is grim,” police spokesman Oliver Mandipaka said. Since the start of flooding in December, more than 120 villages have been fully submerged or washed away as the wall of water swept everything on its way, Mandipaka said.
At least five have been killed and over 1,000 families affected. Authorities have opened about 50 relief camps to provide shelter for more than 1,000 families left homeless by the floods, in Masvingo, Mashonaland and Manicaland provinces, officials say.
The Zimbabwean heard that thousands of villagers who have escaped the floods are still without food and water.
Post published in: News