Idai, the tropical cyclone passed and left a trail of destruction in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Malawi. According to information from Filipe Nyuse, the president of Mozambique, the number of deaths in the country can even reach to over one thousand. The heavy rains and strong winds ransacked the region on March 14th and even now there is still a maximum alert for further storms.
Beira, the port city, is the second largest city in Mozambique and it was the main affected region. There are initial estimates from the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) stated that 90% of the location had been destroyed, including land access routes, and 600 thousand people were affected.
“Beira was the most seriously affected location. But also we hear about situations outside of the city that are even worse. Yesterday, a large dam exploded and cut off the last road to the city”, explains Jamie LeSuer, who is leading the IFRC Mission.
The Federation confirms in a statement that it has already approved and released around 340 thousand Swiss Francs, about R$ 1,290,000.00, from its emergency fund as initial aid to 7,500 people, although it believes that further resources are necessary to provide support to the local Red Cross personnel.
The UN has already declared its willingness to supply the needs of the affected population reached by this disaster. Marcoluigi Corsi, the Representative of the Fund from the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) in Mozambique, states that the main obstacles for establishing humanitarian aid in the region, at the moment, are the lack of communication and local access to transportation.
“The situation is serious and UNICEF and its partners are willing to provide support to the Government to bring urgent aid to the affected population, including drinking water, methods for providing sanitation and hygiene, as well as medical care. In spite of all the challenges, we are well-prepared, as we already have pre-positions supplies of tarps, hygiene kits, and water purification tablets available in the country. These can be delivered quickly and help in the first few days”, said the Representative.
The World Food Program has also sent its first batch of foodstuffs to Beira.
On Saturday 16 March, WFP Aviation airlifted 2,000 boxes📦 of high-energy biscuits from Kenya to Beira, #Mozambique as food assistance to those affected by tropical #CycloneIdai.@WFPLogistics @WFP_Africa pic.twitter.com/sbge7bODON
— World Food Programme (@WFP) March 18, 2019
The Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also deeply laments the deaths, destruction, and homelessness caused by Idai and stated it is ready to provide aid to these countries.
“Just like Brazil supplied high-tech humanitarian service aid when the tragedy took place at Brumadinho (MG), it quickly supplied Mozambique and Malawi maps, from satellite images, on the regions affected by Idai tropical cyclone to help in the search and rescue operations”, confirmed Itamaraty.
The African Mission NGO (Missão África), headquarters are in Minas Gerais, will also send a team of volunteers to Mozambique to aid to the cyclone victims on March 25th. The organization intends to send the maximum number of people on this mission and collect donations to send to the residents from this region.
Data for Donations to the Africa Mission:
Missão África CNPJ: 16. 908. 250\ 0001-64
Banco do Brasil: Agência: 1001-4, Conta corrente: 119.273- 6
Caixa Econômica Federal: Agência: 3961, Conta corrente: 2919-8, Operação: 003
For further information: contato@missaoafrica.org.br.