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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Cyclone Idai: Devastation in Mozambique and Zimbabwe | Cyclone Idai: Devastation in Mozambique and Zimbabwe |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Cyclone Idai has had a "massive and horrifying" impact on Mozambique's port city of Beira, the Red Cross says. | Cyclone Idai has had a "massive and horrifying" impact on Mozambique's port city of Beira, the Red Cross says. |
| It made landfall on Thursday with winds of up to 177 km/h (106 mph), but aid teams only reached Beira on Sunday. | It made landfall on Thursday with winds of up to 177 km/h (106 mph), but aid teams only reached Beira on Sunday. |
| People have been rescued from trees, homes have been destroyed and roofs were ripped off concrete buildings, head of the Red Cross assessment team, Jamie LeSeur, told the BBC. | People have been rescued from trees, homes have been destroyed and roofs were ripped off concrete buildings, head of the Red Cross assessment team, Jamie LeSeur, told the BBC. |
| The cyclone has killed at least 150 people across southern Africa. | The cyclone has killed at least 150 people across southern Africa. |
| More than 80 people have died in eastern and southern Zimbabwe, information ministry head Nick Mangwana told Reuters news agency. | More than 80 people have died in eastern and southern Zimbabwe, information ministry head Nick Mangwana told Reuters news agency. |
| This includes two pupils from the St Charles Lwanga boarding school in the district of Chimanimani, who died after their dormitory was hit when rocks swept down a mountain. | |
| Malawi has also been badly hit. The flooding there, caused by the rains before the cyclone made landfall, led to at least 122 deaths, Reliefweb reports. | Malawi has also been badly hit. The flooding there, caused by the rains before the cyclone made landfall, led to at least 122 deaths, Reliefweb reports. |
| How bad is the damage in Beira? | |
| At least 68 people have died in Mozambique, mostly around Beira, the authorities there say. | |
| More than 1,500 people have been injured by falling trees and debris from buildings including zinc roofing, the BBC's Jose Tembe in the capital, Maputo, quotes officials as saying. | |
| "Almost everything has been affected by the calamity," Alberto Mondlane, the governor of Sofala province, which includes Beira, said on Sunday. | |
| "We have people currently suffering, some on top of trees and are badly in need of help." | |
| Local people in Beira, with a population of 500,000, have put in an "incredible effort" to reopen roads in the city, Mr LeSeur told the BBC's Newsday programme. | Local people in Beira, with a population of 500,000, have put in an "incredible effort" to reopen roads in the city, Mr LeSeur told the BBC's Newsday programme. |
| "Beira has been severely battered. But we are hearing that the situation outside the city could be even worse," a statement from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Society quotes him as saying. | "Beira has been severely battered. But we are hearing that the situation outside the city could be even worse," a statement from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Society quotes him as saying. |
| The road linking Beira to the rest of the country has been damaged, but air links have now resumed. | |
| President Filipe Nyusi cut short a trip to eSwatini, formerly known as Swaziland, to visit the affected areas. | |
| What's the situation in Zimbabwe? | |
| Meanwhile in Zimbabwe, where a state of disaster has been declared, President Emmerson Mnangagwa has arrived back early from a trip to the United Arab Emirates to "make sure he is involved directly with the national response", the authorities say. | |
| The ministry of information has shared pictures of pupils from St Charles Lwanga School, who have now been rescued. | |
| 'Frustration is growing' | |
| Shingai Nyoka, BBC Africa, Mutare, eastern Zimbabwe | |
| It's been days since the first rains fell but the skies here show no signs of clearing. | |
| Roads and bridges have been washed away and air rescue is the only hope for the hundreds who remain stuck. | |
| The low-hanging clouds and mist are stopping rescue efforts and frustration is growing at the command centre here in Mutare. | |
| Social Welfare Minister Sekesai Nzenza told me that helicopters have waited for days to airlift the injured and deliver food and blankets to those affected by the flooding. |