The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) acknowledged this Tuesday, 17 December, that cyclone ‘Chido’ has aggravated the needs of people in the north of the country displaced by terrorism, with 190,000 people in need of ‘urgent’ support.
According to UNHCR spokeswoman Eujin Byun, the cyclone, which hit the northern coast of the country on Sunday via Cabo Delgado and Nampula, causing at least 34 deaths so far, ‘has destroyed homes, displaced thousands of people and seriously damaged roads and communication routes, hampering aid efforts in areas that already host a large number of people displaced by terrorism.’
The UN organisation says it is ‘deeply concerned about the impact on these vulnerable communities’ and is ‘working closely with the government and humanitarian partners to provide immediate assistance to the affected populations’.
‘In some villages, few houses remain intact. Years of conflict, forced displacement and economic hardship have left communities in the region increasingly vulnerable. For many displaced families, Cyclone Chido has caused new difficulties, destroying what little they have managed to rebuild,’ warned the UNHCR spokeswoman, assuring that the agency is “coordinating the provision of vital protection services to the most vulnerable”.
‘Although the full extent of the damage in rural areas remains uncertain, preliminary assessments suggest that around 190,000 people are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, 33 schools have been affected and almost 10,000 houses have been destroyed,’ said Eujin Byun, quoted by the Lusa news agency.
In the first 48 hours, the UNHCR says it provided assistance in the largest accommodation centre in Pemba, the capital of Cabo Delgado, ‘where more than 2,600 people received emergency aid and essential items such as blankets, mattresses, mosquito nets and emergency shelter items.’
At least 34 people lost their lives in the provinces of Cabo Delgado, Nampula and Niassa during the passage of the intense tropical cyclone Chido on Sunday (15). Thirty-five thousand houses were affected and 34 health centres destroyed, according to a new preliminary report released on Tuesday.
According to the report by the National Institute for Disaster Risk Management and Reduction (INGD), the tropical cyclone, which formed on 5 December in the south-west of the 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.’