Cyclone Idai: UAE sends emergency aid as 1,000 feared dead in Mozambique

Scores have been killed and more than 200 are missing in neighbouring Zimbabwe

People are escorted to safety by aid workers at the airport of the coastal city of Beira in central Mozambique. AFP

Locals stand on a damaged section of the road between Beira and Chimoio in Nhamatanda district, central Mozambique. AFP

Displaced people receive food and drink after arriving at the airport of Beira in central Mozambique. AFP

A wounded survivor is evacuated by helicopter from Chimanimani. AFP

Soldiers help residents retrieve their lost belongings in Chimanimani. AFP

A girl is carried on a stretcher after being injured in the wake of Cyclone Idai in Chimanimani, Zimbabwe. Getty Images

The village of Dondo is submerged by flood waters in Sofala Province, Central Mozambique. EPA

Injured people rest in a helicopter in Chimanimani. EPA

A rescued woman lies in a makeshift clinic for medical attention in Chimanimani. EPA

A woman and her children carry some of their belongings after their village was destroyed in Chimanimani, Zimbabwe. EPA

The UAE will send Dh18.3 million in emergency aid to Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi after Tropical Cyclone Idai tore through the African countries.

Rescue workers in Mozambique were racing against time to move people out of trees and off roofs on Tuesday as rain and powerful winds continued.

The monster storm swept through Mozambique before smashing into Zimbabwe.

Four days after Idai made landfall, flash floods have swept away roads and bridges in the two impoverished countries.

More than 1,000 people are feared to have died in Mozambique alone while scores have been killed and more than 200 are missing in Zimbabwe.

The UAE’s aid contribution consists of food supplies and supplements for children, medical supplies and shelter to assist 600,000 people in the three countries.

Delegations from the Emirates Red Crescent will travel to each of the affected nations and ensure the swift delivery of the emergency supplies.

The donation comes by order of Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces.

Monitoring the situation will be Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed, Ruler's Representative in Al Dhafra and chairman of the Emirates Red Crescent, the state news agency Wam reported.

Britain on Monday said it was giving £6m (Dh29.2m) in emergency aid to Mozambique.

'People are stranded in trees'

Emergency teams in central Mozambique steered boats in an inland sea of floodwater, rescuing survivors from treetops and roofs, even in the dead of night.

The South African military and the Mozambican army have sent  their air forces to help save lives.

Rescue SA, a South African charity, said it saved 34 people since Friday night, using three helicopters.

"It is the only way to access the people that are stranded," the charity's Abrie Senekal told AFP.

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

Its team is having to make life-or-death decisions about who to save, leader Ian Scher said.

"Sometimes we can only save two out of five," Mr Scher said. "Sometimes we drop food and go to someone else who's in bigger danger.

"There's two issues at the same time: people stranded in trees, and people stranded on houses or new islands that have no food. We just save who we can save and the others will perish.

"In the trees, people have to fight with snakes, insects, wildlife."

President Filipe Nyusi on Monday said the Pungwe and Buzi rivers in central Mozambique had burst their banks and engulfed entire villages.

Mr Nyusi said communities were isolated by the floods and bodies were floating on the water.

"This is a real humanitarian disaster," he said. "More than 100,000 people are in danger."

Emma Beaty, co-ordinator of Cosaco, a group of charities, warned of the peril from dams filled to the brim by the floodwater.

"Some dams have broken and others have reached full capacity," Ms Beaty said. "They'll very soon open the floodgates.

"It's a convergence of flooding, cyclones, dams breaking and making a potential wave ... everything's in place so we get a perfect storm."

In neighbouring Zimbabwe, Idai left 98 dead and at least 217 missing, the Information Ministry said.

The most affected area is Chimanimani in Manicaland province, which borders Mozambique.

Families started burying their dead on Monday in damp graves, and survivors with injuries filled hospitals.

Military helicopters were flying people to Mutare, the largest city near Chimanimani.

The storm swept away homes and ripped bridges to pieces, leaving destruction that acting defence minister Perrance Shiri said "resembles the aftermath of a full-scale war".

Some roads were swallowed by enormous sinkholes, while bridges were ripped to pieces by floods.

"There's going to be a large amount of dead people," Mr Scher said. "The locals and the international community don't realise it yet but it will be huge."