More than 200 killed in Mozambique after cyclone Idai

The number of fatalities continues to rise as communities remain isolated by devastating flooding caused by Tropical Cyclone Idai.

The number of people killed in a powerful cyclone and flooding in Mozambique has risen above 200, more than doubling the country’s death toll from a storm that could rank as one of the worst weather-related disasters in the southern hemisphere.

Mozambique has declared a state of emergency due to the deadly impacts of Idai.

Mozambique’s President Filipe Nyusi said in a televised statement following a cabinet meeting on the disaster on Tuesday that the death toll after Cyclone Idai now stood at more than 200, up from 84.

Winds of up to 170 kph (105 mph) and flooding swept across southeastern Africa, including Zimbabwe and Mozambique, affecting more than 2.6 million people, United Nations officials said on Tuesday.

Rescue crews were still struggling to reach victims five days later, while aid groups said many survivors were trapped in remote areas, surrounded by wrecked roads, flattened buildings, and submerged villages. The Red Cross said at least 400,000 people had been made homeless in central Mozambique alone.

“This is the worst humanitarian crisis in Mozambique’s history,” said Jamie LeSueur, who is leading rescue efforts in Beira for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

The city's airport has been turned into the base for rescue operations as it remains one of the few places in the city that has communications.

Photos emerging from the area show streets littered with downed trees, debris and flooding devastation. Recovery efforts are likely to take weeks or even months due to the extensive damage.

Makeshift medical centers are being built as the main hospital in Beira is not safe for anyone to enter following damage from the storm.

While the official count has increased, it remains well below the 1,000 deaths Nyusi had estimated after flying over some of the worst-hit zones, witnessing submerged villages and bodies floating in the water.

Studies of satellite images suggested 1.7 million people were in the path of the cyclone in Mozambique and another 920,000 affected in Malawi, said Herve Verhoosel, a senior spokesman at the U.N World Food Programme. He gave no figures for Zimbabwe.