A tropical cyclone termed Cyclone Eloise rendered thousands of people homeless as it caused severe flooding after it hit central Mozambique this weekend.
High-speed winds followed by torrential rain engulfed the port city of Beira, capital of Mozambique's Sofala province, and the adjacent Buzi district in the early hours of Saturday.
The UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported on Monday that almost 7,000 people have been displaced and over 5,000 houses destroyed or damaged in the area.
According to response teams and aid agencies, the area was battered by two deadly cyclones in 2019.
According to national emergency response teams, there were six fatalities and 12 serious injuries on Sunday. However, numbers are expected to rise as the scale of the damage is fully assessed in coming days.
Unicef Mozambique spokesman Daniel Timme, speaking to AFP from Beira said, "So many places are flooded already and it's getting worse."
"Rivers are collecting water and bringing it back to the Buzi River basin" south of Beira, he added.
The spokesman said the city's poorer neighbourhoods were disproportionately affected by the cyclone. Homes made of tarpaulin and corrugated iron were swept up by winds.
Unicef, the United Nations' children's agency, estimates that 176,000 people have been "severely affected" by Eloise, half of which are children.
According to Beira Mayor Daviz Simango, one of the victims was a two-year-old girl who died after the house collapsed while her parents were out.
He urged, "We call on people to observe the principle of resilience and better reconstruction."
No comments:
Post a Comment