News from Mozambique of cyclone IDAI's aftermath:
Cyclone Idai: Helicopters struggle to deliver aid after roads washed off the map
By John Sparks, Africa correspondent, in Mozambique
Friday 22 March 2019 22:48, UK
The aid workers and emergency responders gathering in the central Mozambican city of Beira know exactly what to do when hundreds of thousands of people lack basic necessities like food, shelter and clean water. The problem in Mozambique is getting the aid to the people who need it. Helicopters and light aircraft are the only practical way to move supplies in this part of the country because main roads and secondary thoroughfares have been washed out - or lie under metres of dirty, brown floodwater.
However, there are simply not enough helicopters to do the job. I spoke to one highly regarded search and rescue organisation who said they are going home because they cannot get the transport they need. The team from the World Food Programme have access to a Soviet-era chopper and we flew with them as they prepared to deliver family sized tents, emergency meals and medicines to the people of a community called Nhamatanda. First, we had to cross the giant inland sea that has been created by Cyclone Idai as well as five-or-so days of torrential rain, and we soon realised that the precipitation has not stopped.
Our captain deftly steered around thunder clouds and rain showers as we headed to our destination in the northwest. The weather wasn't the only complication. Nhamatanda is surrounded by floodwater and the pilots were struggling to find it. The water had swallowed up all the landmarks on their maps. With fuel running low the crew had little choice and they decided to return to base. This is an occupation hazard in a disaster zone and the crew took it in their stride, equipping themselves with a new set of co-ordinates and taking off once more for Nhamatanda. This time we found it and I could see several residents standing on an ad-hoc landing zone waving homemade flags.
By the time we touched down, thousands of people had arrived to greet us. The excitement was understandable - this was the first aid delivery to reach the community. "We're in a really bad situation," said one woman as she was jostled by the crowd. "We don't have anything to cover us and everything's in water, including our food."
Our helicopter was swiftly unloaded in front of an expectant audience, but it was clear that our cargo was not enough. More than 10,000 families in the area have lost their homes. "When is the last time you had a proper meal?" I asked a young man called Manucho Jacob. "It was last week that I had food." "Are people angry, are they frustrated?" I inquired. "They're angry and they're disappointed. There's no hope for them."
Tomé José is the administrator who runs the district and told me he was feeling the pressure - he simply can't meet people's basic needs. "We need more (aid than this), because we're not talking only about these residents, but everybody in the district. There are people in other areas we still can't reach. We can't bring them food by car."
Delivering aid by helicopter is not the best solution in a crisis - lorries carry a much bigger load. But in flood-hit Mozambique, this is the only way to keep people alive.
To donate to the DEC emergency appeal, visit their website, call the 24-hour hotline 0370 60 60 610, donate at any bank or Post Office or give £5 by texting SKY to 70000.
https://news.sky.com/story/cyclone-idai-helicopters-struggle-to-deliver-aid-after-roads-washed-off-the-map-11672953
Death Toll in Africa Climbs Past 600 After Cyclone
By The Associated Press
March 22, 2019
With the flooding easing in parts of cyclone-stricken Mozambique on Friday, fears are rising that the waters could yield many more bodies. The confirmed number of people killed in Mozambique and neighboring Zimbabwe and Malawi climbed past 600.
Eight days after Cyclone Idai struck southeast Africa’s Indian Ocean coast, touching off some of the worst flooding in decades, the homeless, hungry and injured slowly made their way from devastated inland areas to the port city of Beira, which was heavily damaged itself but has emerged as the nerve center for rescue efforts. “Some were wounded. Some were bleeding,” said Julia Castigo, a Beira resident who watched them arrive. “Some had feet white like flour for being in the water for so long.”
Elhadj As Sy, secretary general of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said the relief efforts so far “are nowhere near the scale and magnitude of the problem,” and the humanitarian needs are likely to grow in the coming weeks and months. “We should brace ourselves,” he said.
Helicopters set off into the rain for another day of efforts to find people clinging to rooftops and trees. Pedro Matos, emergency coordinator for the World Food Program, said rescuers are sometimes spotting “just a hut completely surrounded by water.”
With water and sanitation systems largely destroyed, waterborne diseases are a growing concern. “The situation is simply horrendous. There is no other way to describe it,” Mr. As Sy said after touring camps for the displaced. “Three thousand people who are living in a school that has 15 classrooms and six, only six, toilets. You can imagine how much we are sitting on a water and sanitation ticking bomb.”
The death toll in Mozambique rose to 293, with an untold number of people missing and the mortuary at Beira’s central hospital already reported full. Deaths could soar beyond the 1,000 predicted by the country’s president earlier this week, Mr. As Sy said. The number of dead was put at 259 in Zimbabwe and 56 in Malawi.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/22/world/africa/cyclone-idai-deaths.html
Mozambique's Nyusi Travels to Cyclone-ravaged Coast
March 22, 2019 7:11 PM
Yanick Machel
MAPUTO, MOZAMBIQUE —
The president of Mozambique, Filipe Nyusi, has visited the country's coastal Buzi district, one of the areas most damaged by Cyclone Idai. Nyusi flew over the Buzi district Friday afternoon to get a bird's-eye view of what is considered the country's worst natural disaster in the last 50 years. The district is almost entirely under water after Mozambique's coast was slammed last week. Winds of 160 kilometers per hour (100 mph) and floodwaters six meters (10 feet) deep swamped Mozambique's coast, killing hundreds of people and leaving tens of thousands stranded on high ground and rooftops. Nyusi told residents in the area the government was doing everything it could to rescue those trapped and assist those who lost their homes. He said the major concern of the government was to rescue people surrounded by water and to provide food, clean water and shelter.
Nyusi said he spoke to Angola's president, João Lourenço, who promised to send about 100 doctors to provide medical aid and help avoid the risk of disease outbreaks such as cholera and malaria. Government buildings in the area have been transformed into shelters for Mozambique's flood victims.
Nyusi visited some of the evacuation centers to assess conditions, offer condolences and promise more help. The leader called for unity, and urged all Mozambicans to send support. Nyusi offered thanks for the compassion shown by countless countries that have sent support. These include members of the Southern African Development Community and the European Union, as well as Brazil, Britain, China and India, among others. Nyusi thanked those who have saved lives and given food and clothing to cyclone victims. He is scheduled to visit other areas of the country affected by the devastating floods. The death toll from the storm stood at 293 but was expected to increase.
https://www.voanews.com/a/mozambique-s-president-nyusi-travels-to-cyclone-ravaged-coast/4843469.html
More than £8million raised in one day: Generous Britons dig deep after cyclone devastates Mozambique where death toll could pass 1,000
By Sam Greenhill for the Daily Mail
Published: 11:16 AEDT, 23 March 2019 | Updated: 11:18 AEDT, 23 March 2019
Generous Britons raised an astonishing £8 million on the first day of the Cyclone Idai appeal – but more is needed to prevent a humanitarian disaster, charities say. Half a million people are at dire risk of disease as receding floodwaters reveal the horrors of bodies and ruined homes.
A week after Cyclone Idai smashed into the coast of Mozambique, UK aid is beginning to reach stricken families who have lost everything. The British public has responded magnificently to the appeal launched on Thursday by the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), an umbrella group of 14 aid agencies. They put in £6 million and the Government matched pound-for-pound the first £2 million – taking the first-day total to £8 million. The Queen and Prince Charles were among those to give money. Now the Treasury has agreed to match a further £2 million, meaning the next donors to pledge cash will see their contributions doubled. So far the UK has sent 7,500 shelter kits and 100 family tents to Mozambique. Tomorrow, a plane carrying forklift trucks and other equipment will fly to the region.
It is feared thousands may have perished when the 105mph tropical storm lashed Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe, sweeping floodwaters 30 miles inland and turning homes, villages and farmland into squalid lakes. Some 2.6 million survivors urgently need help. They include 3,000 found sheltering on the roof of a school that has just six toilets.
DEC chief executive Saleh Saeed said: ‘We are extremely grateful for the huge generosity of everyone in the UK who has donated. ‘The situation across Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe remains desperate, with thousands still to be brought to safety, and many more in need of food, medical attention, clean water and shelter. Every hour counts in the race to save lives.’ International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt said: ‘We are only just beginning to see the true impact of this devastating cyclone.
UK aid is now in the region worst hit by the cyclone. ‘It is right that the UK, the biggest global donor and one of the first to respond to the crisis, does all it can to provide life-saving assistance to those desperately in need.’
There are thought to be 15,000 stranded people ‘in bad shape’, many of them on rooftops or stuck in trees, Mozambican minister Celso Correia said. The UN has warned that Cyclone Idai could prove to be the worst weather-related disaster ever to strike the Southern Hemisphere.
Humanitarian agencies are desperately worried about the spread of malaria and cholera. ‘We are running out of time, it is at a critical point here,’ Unicef chief Henrietta Fore said. ‘There’s stagnant water, decomposing bodies, and lack of good hygiene and sanitation. We are worried about cholera, about malaria, because of the stagnant water.’
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6841209/More-8million-raised-one-day-Generous-Britons-dig-deep-cyclone-devastates-Mozambique.html
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