ReliefWeb

Current Situation

A Category 3 Cyclone made landfall in Mozambique on March 14, 2019 with gale force winds of up to 140km per hour leaving a trail of destruction and flooding as it continued into Zimbabwe. Cyclone Idai left over 1,000 people dead across the region and almost 2 million displaced in its wake. Within a period of six weeks, another Cyclone Kenneth made a fall in the northern Mozambique as the category 4 storm which was reported to be the strongest cyclone Mozambique has ever recorded.

Cyclone Idai left destruction and inundation of water across 4 provinces, Sofala, Manica, Zambezia, and part of Inhambane, creating an inland sea. Cyclone Kenneth affected the northern most province, Capo Delgado, affecting at least 168,254 people (UNICEF, 30 April), and displacing over 23,000 across transit and evacuation centers in Pemba, Quissanga, Moimboa da Praia, and Metuge. The full extent is still unclear, but initial assessments indicate that the districts of Macomia, Quissanga and Ibo are the hardest hit.

This sea of water caused damage to bridge and road infrastructure. The Cyclones completely or partially destroyed several hundred of thousand houses across all affected provinces leaving tens of thousands displaced or living under exposed shelter. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that over 1 million children were affected by the cyclone and children aged between 6–59 months are displaying symptoms of acute and moderate malnutrition caused by their food sources disappearing. Over 9,000 cholera cases and 15,000 malaria cases have been recorded in Sofala province. Over 3,500 classrooms were destroyed by Cyclone Idai affecting the learning of over 300,000 students. The agriculture sector has lost almost 1 Million hectares of crops, a considerable portion of Mozambique’s agricultural land that impacts the country’s GDP and food security.

ADRA intends to meet the various needs of the affected households by increasing the delivery of emergency relief programs through immediate lifesaving food aid, temporary shelter, health, water, sanitation and hygiene, nutrition supplements, rebuilding of schools, resuscitation and support of livelihood activities and provision of non-food items.