The devastating tropical cyclone struck Mozambique, Zimbabwe several other countries in southern Africa causing widespread flooding and destruction. Within a week at least 202 people died in Mozambique, 102 people in Zimbabwe and 56 people in Malawi according to the UN.
Millions are affected as vast areas of land have been flooded, houses submerged, roads destroyed and communications disrupted. Thousands have been displaced by the storm, and President Filipe Nyusi of Mozambique said the death toll there could climb to more than 1,000.
Mozambique’s president, has called it “a humanitarian disaster of great proportion” and announced three days of national mourning late on Tuesday and said his government would declare a national emergency.
At least 1.7 million people were the direct victims of the cyclone in Mozambique and 920,000 have been affected in Malawi. In Zimbabwe, 600 houses were completely destroyed and at least 20,000 have been partially damaged. Aid organizations said those figures could rise drastically in these inaccessible areas.
Nelson Moda was in Beira in Mozambique when the storm hit. He told “it was like a war. It was horrific. The children were crying and we were hiding in the bathroom. I could see people dying and the house where I live has been destroyed.”
“The scale of devastation (in Beira) is enormous. It seems that 90 percent of the area is completely destroyed,” said Jamie LeSueur, leader of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) team there.
The governor of neighbouring Manica province, Manuel Rodrigues, says there is an urgent need to rescue people still trapped.
“It’s very sad and very complicated. We saw people besieged and asking for help. They were on top of their roofs made up of zinc sheets. Others under flood waters.
“We can only imagine that they had been there for more than two or three days, without food and without clean drinking water.”
Christian Lindmeier from the World Health Organization, said: “We need all the logistical support that we can get.”
>Juthy Saha
Cyclone Idai Causes Massive disaster in Southern Africa
