The bishop of Pemba, Juliasse Sandramo, described the aftermath of cyclone Chido in Cabo Delgado, in northern Mozambique, to Lusa on Wednesday as devastating, reporting that in one community alone there are at least 20 unaccounted for deaths.
“In Mecúfi, the report we have, from the religious sisters who are there, is that there are 20 dead, which have not yet been publicised. And the religious sisters say there must be more because the burials took place immediately because of the Islamic religion, and some were not properly communicated to the institutions. We need to get to the villages to hear [the effects],” the bishop of the diocese of Pemba told Lusa.
At least 28 people died in Cabo Delgado, three in Nampula and three in Niassa, in the passage of the intense tropical cyclone Chido on Sunday, and 35,000 homes were affected, as well as 34 health facilities, according to an official preliminary balance with data up to Monday.
The tropical cyclone, which formed on 5 December in the south-west Indian Ocean, entered the district of Mecúfi in the northern province of Cabo Delgado on Sunday, with winds of around 260 kilometres per hour and heavy rain.
“Devastating. The district of Mecúfi, in Chiúre, was devastated. Practically 80% of people’s houses were damaged. 80% is not much, it must be more. Conventional houses also lost their roofs; the walls remained, but the roofs flew off, or part of the roof flew off. And others were left with nothing at all. So it’s devastating,” he said.
According to Juliasse Sandramo, the districts of Cabo Delgado affected by cyclone Chido “are in a difficult situation”, although some organisations, including the Catholic Church, are on the ground trying to help. Still, she warned that the need for help will continue, particularly in the supply of tarpaulins to re-establish the roofs of precarious houses, when the rainy season is in full swing.
“Many of the population has lost their homes, those of simple construction, local materials. They can get stakes and the rest, but getting the grass to make the roof will be very difficult. The grass won’t appear in good condition until the rainy season is approaching in June or July of next year. It’s very important that each family at least has a tarpaulin, so they can make a house and cover it when it rains,” he said, describing the urgency as “very great”.
The bishop also referred to other effects of the cyclone, such as on agriculture.
“It’s the sowing season. The rains also spoiled some families who had stored seeds. Now, we need to replace them so they can sow the seeds again. This is important, but then comes the rest, such as food and the replacement of infrastructure, such as health care, so that people can be taken care of again. Many people have been injured, and certain diseases will also emerge in the coming days,” he stressed, recognising that several schools cannot resume classes in February.
“We’re all trying to launch SOS to see what we can achieve for these people who have suffered so much, on the one hand, from the war and now from this natural disaster,” he lamented while pointing out that the population and local organisations were better prepared after the lessons of previous cyclones that affected Cabo Delgado province.
Mozambique’s government announced that it had sent multisectoral teams to the provinces of Cabo Delgado and Nampula to assist the populations affected by the cyclone, which left Mozambican territory on Tuesday.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) recognised that Cyclone Chido had aggravated the needs of people in northern Mozambique displaced by terrorism, with 190,000 people needing “urgent support”.
Lusa
