Mozambique President says Death toll from Cyclone Idai could Exceed 1,000

Death toll could surpass 1,000

Mozambique’s president, Filipe Nyusi on Monday said the death toll from Cyclone Idai and the preceding floods could exceed 1,000.

Only 84 deaths have been confirmed so far in Mozambique as a result of Cyclone Idai, which has also left a trail of death and destruction across Zimbabwe and Malawi, with vast areas of land flooded, roads destroyed and communication wiped out.

Speaking on Radio Mocambique, Nyusi said he had flown over the affected region, where two rivers had overflowed. Villages had disappeared, he said, and bodies were floating in the water.
“Everything indicates that we can register more than one thousand deaths,” he said.

The cyclone has also killed 89 people in Zimbabwe, an official said on Monday, while the death toll in Malawi from heavy rains and flooding stood at 56 as of last week. No new numbers had been released following the cyclone’s arrival in the country.

Caroline Haga, a senior International Federation of the Red Cross official who is in Beira, said the situation could be far worse in the surrounding areas, which remained completely cut off by road and where houses were not as sturdy. Nyusi flew over areas that were otherwise accessible, and some of which had been hit by flooding before Cyclone Idai.

Southern Africa counting losses as South Africa sends support

As at Monday morning (March 18), government estimates showed that at least 89 people have died in Zimbabwe after Cyclone Idai tore across the eastern and southern parts of the country.

The scale of destruction is only becoming apparent as rescuers reach the most affected areas, near the border with Mozambique. Chimanimani district has been cut off from the rest of the country by torrential rains and winds of up to 170 km per hour that swept away roads, homes and bridges and knocked out power and communication lines.

The ensuing humanitarian crisis heaps more pressure on a nation grappling with economic woes and a drought. Video obtained by Reuters showed people weeping as bodies were recovered from a local church in the aftermath of the cyclone. Local officials say the body count is expected to rise.

Meanwhile Mozambique which was also battered has also recorded deaths amid heavy flooding. A combine figure of deaths would exceed the 100 mark as authorities grapple with massive flooding from the weekend.Over in South Africa, President Ramaphosa deployed the South Africa National Defence Force, SANDF, to help Mozambican rescue effort.

Zimbabwe counts losses, president cuts UAE trip

Zimbabwean government continues its humanitarian response to the effects of Cyclone Idai which battered parts of the country leaving in its trail death and destruction.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa who was in Dubai on an official visit has cancelled the trip and is due back home to join in the efforts being rolled out to manage the crisis.