Maputo, Mozambique (DT) – The death toll from the passage of cyclone Chido in northern Mozambique went up to 75, with at least 768 injured and 329,565 affected, according to data from the Mozambique National Institute of Disaster Management (INGC) obtained by EFE.
In addition, 39,133 houses ended up destroyed, and one person is still missing, the INGD added.
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Two new deaths (updated from 73 from a previous report) registered in the province of Cabo Delgado, the hardest hit with 67 deaths, with 740 injured and 216,930 people affected.
Many public buildings were also affected, including 250 schools with 109,793 students and 1,556 teachers.
Mozambique’s President Filipe Nyusi, who declared two days of national mourning from early Friday, visited the Mecúfi district of Cabo Delgado, the hardest hit by the cyclone.
“The priority we have set ourselves is the immediate restoration of electricity because this will help solve the problem of water distribution, communications and even help the sick,” Nyusi said at a meeting with the local government.
He expressed concern about the “lack of accommodation in Mecúfi” and the possible increase in water-borne illnesses.
“In the next two weeks, there will be rains, which means that these people who are out in the open will get wet with the little they have. What we will distribute to them will get wet (food and basic needs),” warned Nyusi.
Cabo Delgado is the worst-hit province, with 67 deaths. Nampula and Niassa have recorded five and three deaths, respectively.
Although the cyclone near Zimbabwe dissipated between Monday and Tuesday, experts said the death toll could rise as the affected areas continue to be assessed.
Chido made landfall in Mozambique on Sunday with winds of up to 120 kilometers per hour (74 miles per hour) and wreaked havoc in the north of the country before moving into neighboring Malawi on Monday, where at least 13 people died.
The cyclone has also left at least 22 dead and 45 seriously injured on the French archipelago of Mayotte. However, Gallic authorities warned on Sunday that the death toll could reach “several hundred.”
The Indian Ocean islands were battered by wind gusts of up to 220 kilometers per hour (136 miles per hour) and heavy rains.
Southeast Africa typically experiences an annual tropical storm season that lasts from October to April, sometimes resulting in numerous deaths and extensive property damage.
Between February and March 2023, Freddy, the longest cyclone ever recorded, killed more than 1,200 people in Malawi and nearly 200 in Madagascar and affected more than 1.7 million people in these and other areas of the region, such as Zimbabwe and Mauritius.
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