Cyclone Idai ravaged three African nations Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi, it killed more than 140 people and left over hundreds missing in its path. Thousands of people were stranded, and cut off from the rest of the world.
The United Nations reported that cyclone Idai affected more than 1.5 million people.
The cyclone with wind speeds of 177 kilometers per hour hit the hardest at Mozambique’s central port city of Beira. Beira Mozambique’s largest cities with over 500,000 residents its roads witnessed flooding, airports closed, electricity cut off and hundreds of homes destroyed.
Beira has often sees worst storms and has worked to limit the effects of rising waters brought about by climate change through a series of infrastructure projects.
The storm hit Thursday night and was moving westwards into Zimbabwe and Malawi. Homes, schools, businesses, hospitals and police stations have been destroyed by the cyclone. Zimbabwe’s national army was called in to help with rescue work.
Serious humanitarian crisis unfolding in chimanimani chipinge most of our structures comms are down.We need state intervention on a massive scale to avoid biblical disaster ,homes bridges being washed away lives in danger @hwendec @daddyhop@kwirirayi @nelsonchamisa @mdczimbabwe pic.twitter.com/QSVEe7yiG7
— MDC Secretary for Elections (@JMafume) March 16, 2019
The death toll is expected to rise as authorities assess the impact of the cyclone.