Cyclone Idai’s huge floods in Mozambique leave rescue workers helpless

Rescue workers are unable to reach desperate residents in central Mozambique because of the damage caused by metres-deep floodwaters from Cyclone Idai, which made landfall last week.

Aid groups trying to deliver food, water and shelter are struggling to match people's needs in areas around the port city of Beira where more than 200 have been killed.

That death toll that is set to rise significantly. Ninety per cent of the city was hit by the Category 2 tropical storm.

A UN official said an “inland ocean” stopped aid workers reaching those areas, which were hit by 175kph winds last week.

“The biggest problem at the moment is access," Shelby Stapleton, senior programme officer at World Vision Mozambique, which is working in four central provinces, told The National.

"The situation in the city of Beira is incredibly devastating.

"Accessing the communities outside of the city is an incredible challenge. There is water everywhere and there is a lack of fuel.”

Heavy rain is continuing to batter the areas around Beira and looks set to increase in the coming days.

Flood levels are expected to rise to eight metres and the damage may not be known until the rain stops and the floodwaters drain away into the Indian Ocean.

More than 100 people have died in neighbouring Zimbabwe and Mozambique’s President Filipe Nyusi predicted more than 1,000 deaths after flying over the flood-struck areas in a helicopter on Monday.

The disaster has been called the worst to hit southern Africa in the past two decades and aid groups say the response needed is unprecedented.

“This is one of the largest disasters I've seen here in Mozambique,” Ms Stapleton said. “It is a huge-scale response that we have not dealt with in a very long time in this part of the world.”

An aerial survey of Beira posted to Twitter by Jamie LeSueur, of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, shows widespread destruction.

Flattened houses could be seen alongside high floodwater across the country’s fourth largest city.

The road into Beira from Mozambique’s capital, Maputo, has been cut off and residents in the city are relying on generators to charge their phones and stop their food rotting.

Gert Verdonck, emergency co-ordinator for Medecins sans Frontieres in Beira, said on Wednesday that “significant emergency response including medical services and water and sanitation support” was needed in the city of half a million people.

"It's difficult at this stage to have a clear picture of the medical needs," Mr Verdonck said.

"It's even difficult to get to the health centres, because the roads are destroyed or because the health centres are destroyed."

The tropical cyclone also tore inland into Malawi, killing nine people and displacing tens of thousands.

Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe are some of the poorest countries in the world.

The UN said on Wednesday that it would seek a large amount of funding from member states after the cyclone.

On Tuesday it released $20 million (Dh73.4m) from its emergency fund as agencies raced to help hundreds of thousands of people.

An Emirati Red Crescent official said that the UAE had set aside $2m for Mozambique, but that could rise after a delegation arrives to inspect the damage and assess the country's needs.

Drone footage of the damaged Praia Nova Village, after Cyclone Idai made landfall in Sofala Province, Central Mozambique. CARE/EPA

A shivering displaced woman in Beira. AFP

People carry their personal effects through a flooded section of Praia Nova, Beira, Mozambique. IFRC/EPA

Inhabitants of Chiluvi, a village in central Mozambique, walk along a flooded and muddy street after Cyclone Idai and Floods that hit the region, in Nhamatanda, Mozambique. EPA

People salvaging iron sheets on the streets of Beira in Praia Nova, Beira, Mozambique. IFRC/EPA

Men carry a coffin along a makeshift path on the river in Ngangu township Chimanimani, Manicaland Province, eastern Zimbabwe, after the area was hit by the cyclone Idai. AFP

A woman and child near a school building being used as emergency shelter for some 300 local people who are unable to return to their homes following cyclone force winds and heavy rain in the coastal city of Beira, Mozambique. CARE via AP

A soldier attends to a child while distributing food supplies in Chimanimani, about 600km southeast of Harare, Zimbabwe. AP Photo

Local residents prepare meal at a temporary shelter after cyclone Idai made landfall in Sofala Province, Central Mozambique. CARE/EPA

Local residents in search of clean water after cyclone Idai made landfall in Sofala Province, Central Mozambique. CARE/EPA

An aerial view of the destruction of homes after Tropical Cyclone Idai, in Beira, Mozambique. IFRC via AP

A man stands on the edge of a collapsed bridge in Chimanimani, about 600km southeast of Harare, Zimbabwe. AP Photo

Schoolchildren are stranded across a collapsed bridge in Chimanimani, southeast of Harare, Zimbabwe. AP Photo

A general view shows destruction after Cyclone Idai in Beira, Mozambique in this still image taken from a social media video on March 19, 2019. REUTERS

Members of the community walk near one of the many damaged roads and bridges in Chimanimani, 450 km east of the capital Harare, Zimbabwe after Cyclone Idai hit the area. Over 80 people have died, more than 100 still missing and thousands displaced as a result of the disaster. Neighbouring Mozaambique and Malawi have also have been affected by the cyclone. EPA

A handout photo made available by CARE, an international humanitarian agency shows local residents inspecting the damages after cyclone Idai made landfall in Sofala Province, Central Mozambique. A Category 4 Cyclone named Idai made land fall wreaking havoc knocking out power across the province and impacting every resident in Central Mozambique. EPA

A local resident carries her chilld past debris at the secondary school used as an emergency shelter for local residents in the village of Inhamizua, Mozambique. CARE/ EPA

School students of St. Charles Luanga, rescued by members of the Zimbabwe Military, walk past a mudslide, covering a major road at Skyline junction in Chimanimani, Manicaland Province, Zimbabwe. AFP

The destroyed neighbourhood of Praia Nova, Beira, Mozambique. IFRC/EPA

A woman hangs a cloth to dry in a sea of rubble in the Praia Nova area of Beira, Mozambique. IFRC/ EPA

Abu Dhabi will also provide $2.9m in relief funds to Zimbabwe and Malawi, the state news agency Wam reported.

Britain has offered $7.9m and the EU $3.9m to help with the disaster relief.

"This may be one of the worst natural disasters to hit southern Africa in living memory and so we will need to do quite a lot," said UN spokesman Farhan Haq in New York.

"We do not know yet the scale of damage to make a precise estimate of what kind of numbers we are looking at but it will be large."