Mozambique: Almost 90% of families hit by Idai still in temporary shelters – OIM

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Mozambique: Almost 90% of families hit by Idai still in temporary shelters – OIM

8:50 CAT | 11 May 2020

File photo: Lusa

A total of 89% of families affected by cyclone Idai, which hit central Mozambique in March last year, continue to live in temporary shelters, a survey by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said on Friday.

The survey called “Assessment of Housing Recovery in Central Mozambique” is based on interviews with a sample of 5,323 families, including 1,281 families in resettlement centres and 4,042 families living in communities affected by Cyclone Idai.

Of the number of families surveyed, 9% live in transitional homes and only 2% in permanent residences.

Most of those interviewed (57%) said that their housing was “quickly and completely destroyed” by the cyclone.

One year later, the houses remain in the state Idai left them in.

The survey also found that 76% of families do not intend to return to their area of origin, while 24% are unsure whether or not they will return to their previous area of residence.

The IOM noted that the statistics are similar to the figures collected in the “Evaluation Report on Durable Solutions” for the victims of cyclone Idai, which the organisation published on 31 March this year.

In that survey, 98.6% of those interviewed said they would rather remain in the resettlement areas than return to their areas of origin.

And of that number, 72.4% said they expected conditions in the resettlement areas to improve in order to settle permanently.

The “Evaluation of Housing Recovery in Central Mozambique” indicates that more than three quarters said that they have access to artisanal construction material.

Almost everyone said the housing construction method should be rethought, to make houses stronger and more resilient to future climate change disasters.

Only 3% of people heard in the survey said they were rebuilding their houses.

Of that percentage, 38% are from Sussundenga district, Manica province.

Half of the families who are rebuilding their homes are using the material left over from the housing destroyed by Idai, and 26% received material donated by humanitarian organizations.

Of those surveyed, 54% lived in mud-block houses before the cyclone.

The survey covered 177 administrative posts in 28 districts in the provinces of Sofala, Manica, Tete and Zambézia.

Cyclone Idai hit central Mozambique in March, claiming 604 lives and affecting about 1.8 million people.

Soon after, Mozambique was hit again by a cyclone, Kenneth, which hit the north of the country in April, killing 45 people and affecting another 250,000.

Source: Lusa