appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

liveArticle

appConfig

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sectionsV2

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

json

Agence France-Presse

A cyclone that slammed into Mozambique over the weekend devastated the city of Beira, the Red Cross said on Monday, as the death toll in the country and neighbouring Zimbabwe rose to 157.
“The scale of damage caused by cyclone Idai that hit the Mozambican city of Beira is massive and horrifying,” the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said in a statement.
It said 90 per cent of the city and its surrounds are “damaged or destroyed”.
A large dam burst on Sunday and cut off the last road to the city of some 530,000 people, the statement said.
Idai tore into the centre of the country on Thursday before continuing on to Zimbabwe, bringing flash floods and ferocious winds, washing away roads and houses.
A toll compiled on Monday from official sources puts the death toll in Mozambique at 68, including 55 in Beira alone, and 89 in Zimbabwe.
“The situation is terrible. The scale of devastation is enormous, the IFRC’s Jamie LeSueur was quoted as saying in the statement.
“Almost everything is destroyed. Communication lines have been completely cut and roads have been destroyed. Some affected communities are not accessible,” he said. “Beira has been severely battered. But we are also hearing that the situation outside the city could be even worse.”
Mozambique’s environment Minister Celso Correia said on Sunday: “I think this is the biggest natural disaster Mozambique has ever faced. Everything is destroyed. Our priority now is to save human lives.”

“We will certainly end with a higher toll,” he said at Beira international airport, which reopened after being temporarily closed because of cyclone damage.
In Zimbabwe, eastern Chimanimani district was the worst hit part of the country. Houses and bridges were washed away by flash floods when the storm slammed into the area and high winds and dense clouds hampered military rescue helicopter flights.

“So far we looking at 65 people that have lost their lives,” said Chimanimani lawmaker Joshua Sacco, adding that “150 to 200 people” were missing.
Most of those unaccounted for are thought to be government workers, whose housing complex was completely engulfed by raging waters. Their fate was unknown because the area was unreachable.
“We are very worried because all these houses were just suddenly submerged under water and literally washed away,” he said. “It’s very sad and the situation is dire.”
Tents were set up for those affected by the cyclone and scores of villagers made their way to the relief area, some trekking 20km to reach safety.
Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who cut short a visit to Abu Dhabi over the cyclone, declared a state of disaster in the affected areas.
The World Food Programme estimated “at least 1.7 million people were in the direct path of the cyclone in Mozambique and 920,000 people were affected in Malawi”, adding that thousands more were potentially affected.
Even before the cyclone made landfall on Friday, heavy rains earlier this month had already claimed 66 lives in Mozambique and 56 in Malawi.


New Zealand declares emergency in Wellington as record rainfall triggers flash floods

China warns strong El Nino this year may worsen global fossil fuel crisis

Blaze in Malaysia’s Sabah destroys 1,000 homes, displaces over 9,000

In Pacific Ocean, Super Typhoon Sinlakua bears down on group of remote US islands

Extreme weather

Cyclone Idai tears through Mozambique and Zimbabwe leaving at least 157 dead, hundreds missing

A Nasa satellite image shows cyclone Idai as it hits Mozambique. Photo: EPA

School students of St. Charles Luanga walk past a mudslide, on March 17, 2019, covering a major road at Skyline junction in Chimanimani, Manicaland Province. - More than 100 people have died and many more are missing in Mozambique and neighbouring Zimbabwe on Sunday after tropical cyclone Idai barrelled across the southern African nations with flash floods and ferocious winds. (Photo by ZINYANGE AUNTONY / AFP)

(190317) -- CHIMANIMANI (ZIMBABWE), March 17, 2019 (Xinhua) -- A boy walks through a flooded river in Chimanimani, Manicaland Province, Zimbabwe, March 17, 2019. At least 31 people have been confirmed dead while dozens of others are still missing as tropical cyclone Idai wreaks havoc in southeastern Zimbabwe, the government said Saturday evening. (Xinhua/Shaun Jusa)

Zimbabwe imposes ‘total internet shutdown’ amid deadly crackdown against petrol-price protests

Protesters block a major road leading into the city centre in Harare, Zimbabwe, on Monday. Photo: EPA

epa07286012 Protestors burn tyres during a demonstration over the recent fuel price increase and the rising cost of living in the high density suburb of Warren Park, Harare, Zimbabwe, 15 January 2019. Five people are beleived to have been shot and killed on 14 January 2019 on the first day of the protests. EPA-EFE/AARON UFUMELI

Pastor and activist Evan Mawarire, arrives handcuffed at the magistrates courts in Harare, Zimbabwe, Friday, Jan. 18, 2019. Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights have said in a statement that Mawarire who is among the more than 600 people arrested this week has been charged with subverting a constitutional government amid a crackdown on protests against a dramatic fuel price increase.(AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

In this Thursday, Jan. 17, 2019 photo, an injured man is helped at a private hospital after an alleged assault by a group of uniformed soldiers in Harare, Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe on Friday faced a "total internet shutdown," a media group said, after a days-long violent crackdown on people protesting a dramatic fuel price increase. Badly injured people streamed into a hospital in the capital after alleged assaults by security forces. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

epa07293744 Some of the more than 400 protesters who were arrested over the recent fuel price increase, arrive at the Harare Magistrates Courts in handcuffs and leg irons in Harare, Zimbabwe, 17 January 2019. Several people have been killed during the fuel protests that began on 14 January 2019 following a 130 per cent increase in the price of fuel by the government of Emmerson Mnangagwa. EPA-EFE/AARON UFUMELI

News

World

Africa

Death toll expected to rise as rescue teams reach affected areas
Government minister says it is the biggest natural disaster Mozambique has ever faced


Death toll expected to rise as rescue teams struggle to reach affected areas.


Zimbabwe

Cyclone Idai tears through Mozambique and Zimbabwe leaving at least 157 dead, hundreds missing

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Death toll expected to rise as rescue teams reach affected areas Government minister says it is the biggest natural disaster Mozambique has ever faced

Death toll expected to rise as rescue teams reach affected areas

Government minister says it is the biggest natural disaster Mozambique has ever faced