‘People still hurt’: the forgotten survivors of Cyclone Idai

Posted on March 20, 2020 by Admin

A year after eastern Zimbabwe was devastated by one of the worst storms on record, many people remain amid the wreckage living in makeshift shelters

The sound of the rising wind and the heavy rain trigger fear at Garikai camp in Ngangu, Chimanimani, eastern Zimbabwe.

Villagers here are haunted by traumatic memories of the aftermath of the cyclone that swept over this region last March, when they were forced to bury the dead in makeshift coffins. Some people have never found their loved ones.

Cyclone Kenneth: UN says Mozambique may need another huge aid effort

Posted on April 25, 2019 by Admin

Still reeling from Cyclone Idai, country hit by its strongest ever recorded storm

The destruction caused by Cyclone Kenneth, the strongest storm on record to hit Mozambique, may require another massive aid effort in a country still reeling from the year’s first tropical cyclone, the UN has said.

With high winds and torrential rain, Kenneth made landfall in the country’s north on Thursday night, five weeks after Cyclone Idai devastated its centre.

Cyclone Idai: ‘My family needs to eat, I don’t know how we will survive’

Posted on April 25, 2019 by Admin

In Mozambique, where many people rely on crops to live, Idai’s impact on two key agricultural areas has been devastating

Marie Jose stares out at her field of broken maize stalks, the cobs yellow and mouldy from days of excessive water followed by weeks of extreme sun. She should have harvested them last month, but Cyclone Idai struck her village in Buzi district, in central Mozambique, and destroyed them all.

She is still dealing with the trauma of losing her grandparents and niece to the tropical storm. “They couldn’t hold on in the trees where we were sitting and the wind pushed them into the water,” she says. Their bodies are still missing.

‘I don’t know how my children will survive’: Zimbabwe in crisis | Nyasha Chingono

Posted on April 19, 2019 by Admin

Cyclone Idai washed away the crops that survived a savage drought, leaving 70% of the population in dire need of food

Mutemarare, 61, walks through his corn field, desperately looking for remnants of maize.

He’s not expecting to find any, as most of his crop wilted before reaching maturity, the result of the devastating drought that has hit Zimbabwe.

Cyclone Idai caused $2bn of damage and affected millions, says World Bank

Posted on April 12, 2019 by Admin

Global lender says the cyclone affected about 3 million people, damaging infrastructure and livelihoods

A strong cyclone that cut a deadly swath through Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe last month is expected to cost the three countries more than $2bn, the World Bank has said.

Early estimates pointed to Cyclone Idai costing $2bn “for the infrastructure and livelihood impacts,” the World Bank said in a statement after a meeting in Washington on Thursday.

Why were the people worst affected by Cyclone Idai so badly prepared? | Antonio Matimbe

Posted on April 3, 2019 by Admin

While the world’s poorest bear the brunt of ever more powerful storms, international leaders do little to address the devastating impact of climate change

I am a Mozambican aid agency communicator. Cyclone Idai is just the latest humanitarian crisis I have been involved in.

Mozambique has a history of being affected by huge storms. The upsetting thing to me is that while international leaders and experts talk about climate change and the impact this is having on the world, the very poorest are bearing the brunt of ever more powerful storms.

Survival in Mozambique after cyclone Idai – in pictures

Posted on March 29, 2019 by Admin

Millions of survivors face dire conditions after the tropical cyclone Idai smashed into Mozambique’s coast, unleashing hurricane-force wind and rain that flooded swathes of the country. More than two million people have been affected in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi, where the storm killed 60 and displaced nearly a million people. Hundreds are still missing in Mozambique and Zimbabwe

Mayor in Mozambique says negligence led to cyclone deaths

Posted on March 28, 2019 by Admin

People in rural areas were not told about red alert days before Idai struck, says city official

The Mozambican government failed to warn people in the areas worst hit by Cyclone Idai despite a “red alert” being issued two days before it struck, the mayor of the city of Beira has said.

The southern African country was completely unprepared for the disaster and “profound negligence” led to many deaths, said the mayor, Daviz Simango, who is also the leader of an opposition party.

Cyclone Idai crisis deepens as first cases of cholera confirmed in Mozambique

Posted on March 27, 2019 by Admin

Five people test positive for waterborne disease in flooded port city of Beira amid warnings outbreak will spread

The first cases of cholera have been reported in the cyclone-ravaged Mozambican city of Beira, complicating an already massive and complex emergency in the southern African country.

The announcement of five cases of the waterborne disease follows days of mounting fears that cholera and other diseases could break out in the squalid conditions in which tens of thousands have been living since Cyclone Idai struck on 14 March, killing at least 700 people across the region.

Cyclone Idai death toll passes 750 with more than 110,000 now in camps

Posted on March 24, 2019 by Admin

Devastated areas of Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi brace for the spread of waterborne diseases such as cholera and malaria

Cyclone Idai’s death toll has risen above 750 in the three southern African countries hit 10 days ago by the storm, as workers try to restore electricity and water and prevent an outbreak of cholera.

In Mozambique the number of dead has risen to 446, with 259 dead in Zimbabwe and at least 56 dead in Malawi.

No food, no shelter, no livelihood: families in Mozambique hit by Cyclone Idai

Posted on March 23, 2019 by Admin

Officials ‘overwhelmed’ by the scale of the disaster, leading to a delay in humanitarian and rescue missions

Beneath the crumbling arcade of the municipal council building in Beira, in Mozambique, a group of families has set up a dismal camp. They sleep on dirty concrete pavement and cook with branches from the trees brought down by Cyclone Idai which swept through southern Africa last week.

Winds of more than 100mph triggered devastating floods and more than 400 people were killed, according to government sources. Land and environment minister Celso Correia said that the situation in the country was now critical.

‘The water took everything’: Buzi evacuees tell of Cyclone Idai ordeal

Posted on March 22, 2019 by Admin

People rescued by boat are arriving at Beira in hope of first aid, shelter and reunion with their families

Standing in the fishing port in Beira, Mozambique, Jose Mala scans the faces of those evacuated by boat from Buzi – one of the towns hardest hit by Cyclone Idai – searching for anyone he knows.

He had hopeful news the day before, says Mala, 27. He met a neighbour at the port who told him his sister and two nephews had survived the cyclone that destroyed large parts of their hometown.

‘We don’t have anything’: the fight for survival after Cyclone Idai

Posted on March 21, 2019 by Admin

In cities and villages across Mozambique the huge need for aid and assistance is not being met by a chaotic rescue effort

Cyclone Idai brings devastation to Mozambique – visual guide

The main road connecting the cyclone-devastated Mozambican city of Beira to neighbouring Zimbabwe comes to an abrupt end. A section almost 100 metres wide is almost entirely underwater, an angry muddy gash where the tarmac was ripped away by the floods and raging currents.

A week after the onset of Cyclone Idai, as the waters have receded in some places, some of those trapped in villages in the midst of the flood waters have at last managed to get out with huge effort.

Cyclone Idai brings devastation to Mozambique – visual guide

Posted on March 21, 2019 by Admin

Rescuers race to reach tens of thousands of people trapped by vast areas of flooding

Idai first hit Mozambique on 4 March as a tropical depression with torrential rain that also affected southern Malawi. It then changed course, moving back over the sea where the storm strengthened to a cyclone with the equivalent force of a category 3 hurricane.

Cyclone Idai witness describes seeing hundreds of bodies by roadside

Posted on March 21, 2019 by Admin

Fears situation far worse than official death toll, as communities ‘totally obliterated’

Entire villages have been destroyed in Mozambique and Zimbabwe and most of their inhabitants swept away, as rescuers race to save tens of thousands of people trapped by flood waters from Cyclone Idai.

Testimony collected from areas entirely cut off by flooding shows a situation far worse than indicated by official figures, with estimates from some witnesses suggesting that the death toll will reach the thousands.

Witness describes flood-hit Mozambique: ‘We just saw total devastation’ – audio

Posted on March 21, 2019 by Admin

In the aftermath of Cyclone Idai, Zimbabwean Graham Taylor has described the ‘total devastation, carnage and deaths’. Taylor was travelling through the flood-hit countryside of Mozambique. ‘As far as I could look and walk I came across two, three, four hundred bodies floating and on the side of the road,’ he said

Mozambique rescue teams struggle to save thousands

Posted on March 20, 2019 by Admin

Workers appeal for more helicopters as flood waters keep rising after Cyclone Idai

Rescue teams in Mozambique are struggling to reach the thousands of people stranded on roofs and in trees and urgently need more helicopters and boats as post-cyclone flood waters continue to rise.

Mozambique, which was hit by Cyclone Idai over the weekend, has declared a state of emergency and is appealing for international help.

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Category Archives: Cyclone Idai

‘People still hurt’: the forgotten survivors of Cyclone Idai

Cyclone Kenneth: UN says Mozambique may need another huge aid effort

Cyclone Idai: ‘My family needs to eat, I don’t know how we will survive’

‘I don’t know how my children will survive’: Zimbabwe in crisis | Nyasha Chingono

Cyclone Idai caused $2bn of damage and affected millions, says World Bank

Why were the people worst affected by Cyclone Idai so badly prepared? | Antonio Matimbe

Survival in Mozambique after cyclone Idai – in pictures

Mayor in Mozambique says negligence led to cyclone deaths

Cyclone Idai crisis deepens as first cases of cholera confirmed in Mozambique

Cyclone Idai death toll passes 750 with more than 110,000 now in camps

No food, no shelter, no livelihood: families in Mozambique hit by Cyclone Idai

‘The water took everything’: Buzi evacuees tell of Cyclone Idai ordeal

‘We don’t have anything’: the fight for survival after Cyclone Idai

Cyclone Idai brings devastation to Mozambique – visual guide

Cyclone Idai witness describes seeing hundreds of bodies by roadside

Witness describes flood-hit Mozambique: ‘We just saw total devastation’ – audio

Mozambique rescue teams struggle to save thousands