20110415
reuters

WINDHOEK (Reuters) - Heavy flooding in Namibia has killed at least 65 people and displaced 60,000, damaging crops and infrastructure in the southwest African state, a U.N. report said on Friday.

"Sustained high water tables over the past three years mean that it may take months for the floodwaters to subside completely," said the report by the office of the U.N.'s resident disaster coordinator.

Around 228,500 people had been affected by the floods that cut off roads in the north of the country and forced the government to fly in aid, it added.

Government officials told Reuters they were still counting the exact cost of the damage, but it was expected to be in the millions of dollars.

A serious flood in 2009 caused around $620 million worth of damage -- nearly 10 percent of the sparsely populated country's gross domestic product.