Cyclone Chida killed 94 people in Mozambique

Cyclone Chido killed 94 people in Mozambique after it made landfall in the East African country last week, local authorities said.

The country’s National Institute for Disaster Risk and Management (INGD) said 768 people were injured and more than 622,000 people were affected to some degree by the disaster.

Chida made landfall in 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 first wreaked havoc on the French territory of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean, before moving on to Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe.

In Mozambique, the storm hit the northern provinces, which are regularly hit by cyclones. He first reached Cabo Delgado, then went further inland to Nyasa and Nampula.

The country’s INGD said the cyclone had affected the education and health sectors. More than 109,793 students were affected, school infrastructure was seriously damaged.

About 52 sanitation facilities were damaged, INGD reported, further threatening access to basic health services. This is further exacerbated in areas where access to health facilities was limited even 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.

Speaking during a visit to Cabo Delgado on Sunday, one of the worst affected areas, Chapo said the government is working together with INGD to ensure that those affected in Mekufi, Nampula, Memba and Nyasa provinces can rebuild.

In Mayotte, Chida was the strongest storm to hit the archipelago in 90 years, leaving tens of thousands of people devastated.

In the latest update, the Ministry of Internal Affairs confirmed the death of 35 people.

Earlier, the prefect of Mayotte told local media that the death toll could rise significantly after a full assessment of the damage, warning that it would “definitely be in the hundreds” and could reach the thousands.

More than 1,300 officers were deployed to support the local population.

A week later, many residents are still without basic necessities, while running water is slowly being restored to the territory’s capital. The ministry recommended boiling water for three minutes before drinking.

About 100 tons of equipment are being delivered every day, the ministry said, as an air bridge between Mayotte, Reunion and mainland France was built.

In a statement on Friday, Interior Minister Bruno Retaillo said 80 tonnes of food and 50 tonnes 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 rises to sea level. This often causes extensive damage and flooding.

The cyclone, according to INGD, “re-emphasises the vulnerability of social infrastructure to climate change and the need for sustainable planning to mitigate future impacts”.

Estimating the exact impact of climate change on individual tropical cyclones can be difficult due to the complexity of these storm systems. But rising temperatures do affect these storms in a measurable way.

The UN climate body IPCC said earlier 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 increased likelihood that tropical cyclones will be more intense.