Cyclone Chido kills 94 in Mozambique

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

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

Chido hit Mozambique on December 15 with 260 km/h (160 mph) winds and 250 mm of rain 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 northern provinces that are regularly hit by cyclones. He first arrived at Cabo Delgado and then traveled inland to Niassa and Nampula.

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

Some 52 health units were damaged, the INGD said, further putting access to essential health services at risk. This is even worse in areas where access to health centers was already limited before the cyclone.

Daniel Chapo, leader of Mozambique’s ruling party, told local media that the government is mobilizing support at “all levels” in response to the cyclone.

During a visit to Cabo Delgado on Sunday, one of the most affected areas, Chapo said the government is working together 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 catastrophe.

The Ministry of the Interior in its latest update confirmed that 35 people had died.

The prefect of Mayotte had previously told local media that the death toll could rise significantly once the damage was fully assessed, warning that it would “definitely be several hundred” and could reach thousands.

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

A week later, many residents still lack basic needs, while running water is gradually returning to the territory’s capital. The ministry has advised people to boil water for three minutes before consuming it.

Around 100 tonnes of equipment are delivered every day, according to the ministry, while an air bridge between Mayotte, Réunion and mainland France is being built.

In a statement on Friday, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said that 80 tons of food and 50 tons of water had been distributed in Mayotte that day.

Tropical cyclones are characterized by very high wind speeds, heavy rainfall, and storm surges, which are short-term rises in sea level. This often causes widespread damage and flooding.

The cyclone, the INGD said, “highlights once again the vulnerability of social infrastructure to climate change and the need for resilient planning to mitigate future impacts.”

Assessing the exact influence of climate change on individual tropical cyclones can be challenging due to the complexity of these storm systems. But rising temperatures do affect these storms in measurable ways.

The UN climate body, the IPCC, previously said There is “high confidence” that humans have contributed to the increased rainfall associated with tropical cyclones, and “medium confidence” that humans have contributed to the increased likelihood of a more intense tropical cyclone.