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Add to Preferred SourcesA major aid operation is underway in Mozambique and Malawi to help victims of Tropical Cyclone Idai, which has reached the densely-populated Mozambican port city of Beira, after registering maximum wind speeds of nearly 200 kilometres per hour.
Exceptional rainfall before the cyclone hit has already affected a total of 1.5 million people in both Southern African countries and claimed more than 120 lives. The cyclone has now reportedly moved west, towards Zimbabwe.
In addition, tens of thousands of people have been displaced and homes, roads, bridges, and crops have been washed away, World Food Programme (WFP) spokesperson, Hervé Verhoosel, told journalists in Geneva.
“Tropical Cyclone Idai…has compounded destructive flooding that has already occurred as far inland as southern Malawi and eastern Zimbabwe,” he said. “The World Food Programme has been stepping up preparations to meet large-scale assistance needs.”
The UN agency has already begun to assess the extent of the flood damage and prioritise needs among the most vulnerable, Mr. Verhoosel added.
Satellite imagery shows that Malawi’s Chikwawa district has been particularly badly affected by flooding, while Mozambique’s Zambezia and Tete provinces have also seen tens-of-thousands displaced and more than 168,000 hectares of crops reportedly affected.
In Mozambique, help for people displaced by the flooding is being provided in 10 transit centres in Zambezia and two in Tete.
A first round of needs assessments has been completed, but crucial follow-up visits have hampered by fallen powerlines, overloaded mobile phone networks and the fact that airspace is closed over Mozambique because of the weather conditions.
In addition to helicopters already sent by the South African Government, WFP is sending at least one MI-8 transport helicopter to conduct emergency air operations in Mozambique.
Original source: UN News
Published on 15 March 2019