ReutersCyclone Chido has killed 94 people in Mozambique since it made landfall in the East African country last week, local authorities said.
According to the country’s National Institute for Risk and Disaster Management (INGD), 768 people were injured and more than 622,000 people were affected in some way by the natural disaster.
Chido hit Mozambique on December 15, with winds of 260 km/h (160 mph) and 250 mm of rainfall in the first 24 hours.
The same cyclone initially caused devastating damage in the French Indian Ocean (Mayotte) before spreading to Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe.
In Mozambique, the storm hit northern provinces that are regularly hit by cyclones. It first reached Cabo Delgado and then traveled further inland to Niassa and Nampula.
The country’s INDD said the cyclone impacted the education and health sectors. More than 109,793 students were affected and the school infrastructure was severely damaged.
According to the INGD, some 52 sanitary facilities were damaged, further jeopardizing access to essential health services. This is exacerbated in areas where access to health facilities was already limited before the cyclone.
Daniel Chapo, leader of Mozambique’s ruling party, told local media that the government was mobilizing support at “all levels” in response to the cyclone.
During a visit to Cabo Delgado on Sunday, one of the hardest-hit areas, Chapo said the government is working with the INGD to ensure that those affected in the provinces of Mecúfi, Nampula, Memba and Niassa can rebuild.
In Mayotte, Chido was the worst storm to hit the archipelago in 90 years, leaving tens of thousands of people reeling from the disaster.
The Interior Ministry confirmed in its latest update that 35 people had died.
The prefect of Mayotte previously told local media that the death toll could rise significantly once the damage was fully assessed, warning it could be “definitely several hundred” and reach thousands.
More than 1,300 officers were deployed to support the local population.
A week later, many residents still lack basic necessities, while running water is gradually being restored in the territory’s capital. The ministry has advised people to boil water for three minutes before consuming it.
The ministry said around 100 tonnes of equipment would be delivered daily, as an air bridge was being built between Mayotte, Réunion and mainland France.
In a statement on Friday, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said 80 tons of food and 50 tons of water had been distributed across Mayotte that day.
Tropical cyclones are characterized by very high wind speeds, heavy rainfall, and storm surges, which are short-term sea level rises. This often leads to widespread damage and flooding.
The cyclone, the INCD said, “shows once again the vulnerability of social infrastructure to climate change and the need for resilient planning to mitigate future impacts.”
Due to the complexity of these storm systems, it can be difficult to estimate the exact impact of climate change on individual tropical cyclones. But rising temperatures are having a measurable impact on these storms.
This was previously stated by the United Nations climate panel, the IPCC There is “high confidence” that humans have contributed to the increase in rainfall associated with tropical cyclones, and “medium confidence” that humans have contributed to the higher likelihood that a tropical cyclone will be more intense.
