At least 120 people have died and another 868 were injured during the passage of Cyclone Chido in northern and central Mozambique, according to figures updated on Monday by the Mozambican authorities.
Cyclone Chido also affected 687,630 people, corresponding to 138,037 families, in the provinces of Cabo Delgado, Niassa and Nampula, in the north, and Tete and Sofala, in the centre, according to the new balance sheet from Mozambique’s National Institute for Disaster Risk Management and Reduction (INGD), released today, with preliminary data up to 6pm ( two hours less in Lisbon) on Sunday.
Of the total number of confirmed deaths, 110 were in Cabo Delgado, seven in Nampula and three in Niassa provinces.
In the previous balance, with data up to Saturday, the INGD pointed to 94 deaths and 622,610 people affected, corresponding to 123,704 families, as a result of the tropical cyclone, which formed on 5 December in the south-west of the Indian Ocean and entered the district of Mecúfi in Cabo Delgado ten days later, “with winds of around 260 kilometres per hour” and heavy rains.
According to the authorities, Cyclone Chido totally destroyed 118,605 houses and partially destroyed another 36,927, affecting 52 hospitals, 35 places of worship, 11 telecoms towers and 89 public buildings.
The figures also point to a total of 109,793 pupils, 1,556 teachers, 1,126 classrooms and 250 schools affected, as well as 338 fallen power pylons and 454 damaged fishing boats.
The Mozambican president lamented the deaths caused by the cyclone and the destruction of infrastructure, including state schools, hospitals and other public and private buildings, and asked for Mozambicans’ solidarity with the victims.
“We will immediately prioritise support for restoring shelters, housing, food, energy, water and distributing seeds, in addition to the other support that is taking place,” declared Filipe Nyusi, in his communication to the country, alluding to the festive season.
On Friday, the head of state visited Mecúfi, the district most affected by the cyclone in Cabo Delgado, which has claimed more than fifty lives and almost completely destroyed homes and infrastructure.
The intense tropical cyclone Chido, with a scale of 3 (1 to 5), hit the coastal area of northern Mozambique last Saturday night, according to the National Emergency Operations Centre (CNOE), but weakened to a severe tropical storm, although it continued to batter the northern provinces, with “very heavy rainfall of over 250 mm [millimetres]/24 hours, accompanied by thunderstorms and winds with very strong gusts”.
Mozambique is considered one of the countries most severely affected by climate change in the world, facing cyclical floods and tropical cyclones during the rainy season, which runs from October to April.
Lusa
