Mozambique: 1.3M people affected, 306 deaths from cyclones in Q1

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Mozambique: 1.3M people affected, 306 deaths from cyclones in Q1

2:11 CAT | 04 Aug 2023

File photo: André Catueira/Lusa

Heavy rains and the passage of Cyclone Freddy affected more than 1.3 million people in Mozambique in the first quarter, destroyed 236,000 homes and 3,200 classrooms, in addition to 306 deaths, according to official figures.

According to the economic and social balance of the execution of the budget from January to March, consulted today by Lusa, that period was again marked by “excessive rains” that caused flooding in Maputo, as well as the passage of Cyclone Freddy twice, the first in the southern zone, particularly in the province of Inhambane and, later, in the central and northern zone of the country, with greater incidence for the province of Zambézia, “having caused deaths and destruction of various economic and social infrastructures in the affected places”.

These “extreme climatic events” affected 1,354,839 people, corresponding to 305,566 families, with the destruction of 236,039 houses, of which 136,237 were totally destroyed.

“There was also the destruction of 3,262 classrooms, 143 sanitary units, 557 houses of worship and 673 power poles. It should also be noted that these phenomena caused the death of 306 people and 807 injured”, the report pointed out.

In the agriculture sector, 711,791 hectares of various crops were also affected, of which 321,367 hectares were lost, affecting a total of 418,694 farmers, leading to the activation of the “sustains emergency” line, allocating 25,000 food security input kits to the provinces of Maputo and Inhambane.

In the fisheries sector, the survey points to the destruction of 373 vessels, 2,499 fishing gear and 472 fish farms, while in the infrastructure sector 13,886 kilometres of roads were affected, of which 5,447 kilometres were totally damaged, as well as 47 bridges, 26 pontoons and 282 aqueducts.

“To ensure the replacement of infrastructure damaged by Cyclone Freddy, the Emergency Plan was approved, totalling $150 million, and the request for financing was submitted to the World Bank, through the activation of the Emergency Contingent Response Component,” the report recalls.

On 19 May, the World Bank announced funding of $150 million (€139 million) for Mozambique to recover from the damage caused by Cyclone Freddy.

“This amount aims to support the rapid restoration of transport infrastructure, as well as the provision of education, health, energy, water supply and sanitation services”, in addition to the resumption of agricultural activity, it said in a statement.

Of the $150 million, $100 million (€93 million) is allocated in the form of grants and $50 million (€46.5 million) as subsidised credit.

The largest shares are $51 million for transport, $19 million (€17.6 million) for agriculture and $26 million (€24 million) for water supply and sanitation.

These funds are drawn from existing World Bank projects in Mozambique and complement the additional $300 million (€279 million) grant approved in April.

Cyclone Freddy is one of a number of extreme events that scientists believe are gaining strength due to rising global temperatures.

It was one of the longest cyclones on record (37 days, between 5 February and 14 March) and travelled the greatest distance, exceeding 10,000 kilometres, since it formed off northern Australia and crossed the entire Indian Ocean to southern Africa.

The storm caused hundreds of deaths and widespread destruction in central Mozambique and Malawi.

Source: Lusa