At least 70 people died and another 600 were injured in the provinces of Cabo Delgado, Nampula and Niassa during the passage of tropical cyclone Chido, according to figures updated on Wednesday 18 December by the authorities.
‘The rise in the figures we announced yesterday (Tuesday) is confirmed. Work is ongoing on the ground and we’re talking about more than 70 deaths, almost 600 injured and many houses destroyed,’ said Bonifácio António, a technician from the National Institute for Disaster Risk Management and Reduction (INGD), in statements to the media.
Preliminary data released by the technician, quoted by Lusa, indicates that the National Emergency Operations Centre (CNOE) has registered at least 50 deaths in the Mecufi district alone, in the province of Cabo Delgado, in the north of the country.
‘Many health centres and public services infrastructures have been destroyed, including some schools. The death toll could rise in the coming hours because, as the teams search, new records are emerging,’ said Bonifácio António.
According to the authorities’ preliminary report, with data up to 6pm on Tuesday (17), 35,689 families were affected, corresponding to 181,554 people.
Cyclone Chido also caused the total or partial destruction of 36,207 houses, affecting 48 hospitals, 13 houses of worship, 186 power poles, 9 water systems and 171 boats. The INGD also indicates that 149 schools, 15,429 pupils and 224 teachers were affected by the bad weather.
According to an INGD report, the tropical cyclone, which formed on 5 December in the south-west of the Indian Ocean, entered the district of Mecúfi, in the province of Cabo Delgado, in the north of the country, ‘with winds of around 260 kilometres per hour’ and heavy rain.
The intense tropical cyclone Chido, with a scale of 3 (1 to 5), hit the coastal area of northern Mozambique on the night of Saturday to Sunday (14 to 15), according to the National Emergency Operations Centre (CNOE), but it has weakened to a severe tropical storm, although it has continued to batter the northern provinces, with ‘very heavy rainfall of over 250 millimetres in 24 hours, accompanied by thunderstorms and winds with very strong gusts.’
