Three weeks after Cyclone Kenneth made landfall in northern Mozambique, over 300,000 people continue to need humanitarian assistance in the coastal provinces of Cabo Delgado and Nampula. An estimated 45,000 houses have been either damaged or destroyed according to the Government of Mozambique.
Over 300 vulnerable families have thus far received support from shelter teams, organized by IOM and Instituto Oikos, an Italian NGO which has an office on Ibo Island. Teams are installing tarpaulins on damaged homes and temporary shelters. The tarpaulins are provided by the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID).
Four shelter teams continue to move through the island, assisting in total more than 40 families per day; 1,000 families are slated to receive assistance.
“In speaking with affected communities, it is clear that Cyclone Kenneth has drained their limited resources. The cyclone damaged homes, washed away belongings and ruined their food supply,” said IOM Mozambique Chief of Mission Katharina Schnoring.
IOM is conducting a distribution in cooperation with UNICEF, including tarps, water purification drops and soap for nearly 300 families in the heavily affected Macomia district area of Mucojo. Materials are being delivered by helicopter because roads to the area are washed out and littered with fallen trees.
IOM is responding to urgent shelter needs following Cyclone Kenneth through the incoming management of Non-Food Item (NFI) kits and delivering to humanitarian partners, who are carrying out distributions. Thus far IOM has delivered over 7,000 plastic sheets to partners for distribution in Cabo Delgado (Macomia, Ibo Islands, and Quissinga) and Nampula (Erati and Memba) in order to respond to urgent shelter needs.
Original source: IOM
Published on 17 May 2019
