More than 1,000 people may have died in Mozambique, one of three countries in southern Africa struck by Cyclone Idai last week, the nation’s President has said.
While 84 deaths have so far reportedly been confirmed in Mozambique – along with at least 89 people in Zimbabwe and 56 in Malawi, President Filipe Nyusi said on radio on Monday that after flying over the affected region where he’d seen villages had disappeared and bodies were floating on flood waters.
Floods in the Mozambique port city of Beira. PICTURE: Via IFRC
“Everything indicates that we can register more than 1,000 deaths,” he reportedly said.
The death toll is also expected to rising in Zimbabwe where more than 200 are still missing.
The cyclone brought with it destructive winds of up to 200 kph long and torrential rains causing flooding which affected more than 1.5 million people after making landfall in Mozambique on Thursday.
It reportedly caused damage to homes, schools and health facilities as well as crops and water supplies.
Mozambique’s port city of Beira, where the storm struck first on Thursday, is among hardest hit places. It then moved westward across Mozambique into Malawi and Zimbabwe.
In Beira, home to 500,000 people and the country’s second largest port, the situation was complicated after a large dam had burst.
Jamie LeSueur, head of emergency operations for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, is heading a team of IFRC aid workers in Beira.
“The situation is terrible,” he said after an aerial assessment of the city. “The scale of devastation is enormous. It seems that 90 per cent of the area is completely destroyed.”
LeSueur said almost “everything” has been destroyed.
“Communication lines have been completely cut and roads have been destroyed. Some affected communities are not accessible. Beira has been severely battered. But we are also hearing that the situation outside the city could be even worse. Yesterday, a large dam burst and cut off the last road to the city.”
In a statement on Sunday, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he was saddened by the “loss of life, destruction of property and displacement of people” caused by the flooding.
