Nairobi, Kenya
RNS
When Cyclone Idai struck the south-east Africa coast last week, it swept away everything in its path, including churches, schools and homes in the Mozambican port city of Beira and beyond.
By Sunday, the number of confirmed deaths caused by the storm in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe was continuing to rise as churches, Christian relief organisations and agencies raced to aid the three countries most affected by the tropical storm.
People pass through a section of the road damaged by Cyclone Idai in Nhamatanda, about 30 miles from Beira, in Mozambique, on 22nd March, 2019. As flood waters began to recede in parts of Mozambique on Friday, fears rose that the death toll could soar as bodies are revealed. PICTURE: Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi/AP Photo.
After causing extensive flooding as a tropical storm, the cyclone – traveling at a speed of up to 177 kilometres an hour – made landfall on the Mozambican coast on 14th March and continued inland. Agencies have now reported that the number of deaths has surpassed 750 and is expected to rise in the three countries.
Last week, Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi said the number of deaths in his country could reach 1,000. Initial government estimates said nearly 1.8 million people were affected by the floods – including 900,000 children, according to UNICEF.
In Zimbabwe, the storm devastated Chimanimani and Chipinge districts in the eastern province of Manicaland, near the border with Mozambique.
“The situation is bad. Roads have been damaged in the landslides caused by the heavy rains. This has made the mountainous region inaccessible,” Khumbulani Ndlovu, director of integrated programs in Zimbabwe for the evangelical Christian aid organisation World Vision, told Religion News Service in a telephone interview. “An irrigation scheme has also been destroyed.”
“The immediate needs include food aid, shelter, child protection and rehabilitation of infrastructure,” said Ndlovu, whose organisation estimated that $US1.5 million will be needed to respond to the immediate needs. The organisation was among the first to respond to the crisis through its network of volunteers on the ground, according to Ndlovu.
More people are still trapped by the floods in remote rural areas.
“Our priority for staff in the disaster zone is rescuing people, accommodation, registering the affected groups, but they do not have resources to respond to food, water and shelter needs,” Antonio Anosso, the Catholic organisation Caritas’ humanitarian officer for Mozambique, said in a statement. (He could not be reached by phone due to communication challenges.)
The International Federation of the Red Cross has cited increased concerns over disease outbreak while citing new cases of cholera and malaria in Beira, Mozambique.
In Malawi, church aid agency officials say survivors are being housed in churches, mosques and schools after the storm left hundreds of thousands homeless in the Lowershire Valley and Southern districts.
According to Rev Felix Chingota, chairperson of the Public Affairs Committee, a multifaith group of religious organisations, many people have lost property, and farm crops have been destroyed.
“In the immediate, the people camping in schools and churches need relief food, water, blankets and clothing,” said Chingota.
Some faith-based organisations that normally mobilize in times of natural disasters are themselves still trying to recover. Mudslides swept away a Salvation Army outpost in the Zimbabwean town of Chimanimani, where bridges and houses were also destroyed.
“We have experienced and seen floods over the past years, but never before anything so destructive as the scale of what is being experienced now. Both life and property are being lost almost on a daily basis,” Malawian Evangelical Lutheran Church Bishop Joseph Bvumbwe told Lutheran World Information. “We desperately need your urgent support and prayers.”
The Salvation Army holds a prayer service for members displaced in Chimanimani, Zimbabwe, on 24th March. PICTURE: KB Mpofu/AP Photo.
Meanwhile, the World Council of Churches has reported that churches in the region are calling for Christians around the world to join in prayer for the “wellbeing and protection” of those affected.
The WCC quoted Rev Alex Benson Maulana, general secretary of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian Blantyre Synod from Malawi, saying: “We call upon you to join in prayers and sympathising with all the people who are trapped in this catastrophic incident and the support for these thousands of people that are displaced and rendered homeless, missing and injured.”
With those affected urgently needing food, clothing, utensils, shelter and other basic necessities, Maulaua appealed to “all people of goodwill to spare some resources and whatever you can to support our fellow brothers and sisters who are now struggling with life”.
Malawian-born Dr Isabel Apawo Phiri, WCC deputy general secretary, said the impact of this disaster has been much worse because high levels of poverty in the region and government systems unable to assist people in their time of need.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and our member churches who have lost their loved ones and who have been displaced as a result of this disaster”, said Phiri. “We pray also for the long term plans to protect people and the environment from similar disasters.”
– with DAVID ADAMS
