Cyclone Idai: Three years on, what remains to be done?

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Cyclone Idai: Three years on, what remains to be done?

2:41 CAT | 17 Mar 2022

FILE PHOTO - For illustration purposes only. [File photo: DW]

Sofala province remembers Cyclone Idai, the biggest and most violent in Mozambique’s history. Much has changed since then and much remains to be done. US$3.2 billion was needed for the reconstruction, but that amount did not arrive.

Last February, a line of grants was launched, amounting to the equivalent to around US$20 million, to help small and medium-sized companies in the seven Mozambican provinces affected by consecutive Category 5 Tropical Cyclones Idai and Kenneth, which hit the central and northern regions of the country in April, 2019.

Deputy Minister of Public Works, Cecília Chamutota, said the line would facilitate the “comprehensive recovery of the private sector”.

But the offer from the Mozambican government and partners fell short of the expectations of many companies, which saw their businesses ruined by the passage of the biggest storm in Mozambican history.

Job opportunities

Ricardo Conhaque, president of the Sofala Business Council, says that, in addition to financing, job opportunities are needed.

“If companies had work in the province, it would be a good opportunity that wouldn’t even need funding,” he says.

If this amount isn’t enough for companies, just imagine what it represents for a peaceful citizen without a job.

Three years after the passage of Cyclone Idai, Victor Mualeua continues to live in the coastal neighbourhood of Praia Nova, which he fled when the sea inundated his community.

All his furniture was submerged in salt water. Victor says he waited for help from the government to rebuild the roof of his house, but so far, nothing.

“By my sweat, I’m trying to pull from here, pull from there, but nowadays, when there’s no work, everything goes wrong,” he says.

Idaiff.dw_ — *FILE PHOTO – The reconstruction of infrastructure took time due to lack of funds [File photo: DW]*

“To this day, we have nothing”

Another elderly woman, who did not want to be identified, is also unemployed. She lives off the proceeds of her small business ventures. She remembers Cyclone Idai with great sadness. Three years later, she doesn’t know if she will benefit from help to get back on her feet.

“To this day, we have nothing. Since the cyclone, we have not had a place to sleep, and until today we have never received help. Only one side of the house is good, but two rooms have lost their roofing sheets and beams. We can’t find the money to fix it.”

In the last three years, Mozambique has been repeatedly buffeted by extreme natural phenomena.

Cyclones and floods have killed, injured or displaced thousands of people. The last cyclone, Gombe, hit the northern provinces of Nampula and Zambézia last week. According to an IOM bulletin, at least 400,175 people have been affected, with 82 injured and 20 dead, along with damage to 301 schools, 691 classrooms and 17 health centres.

Source: Deutsche Welle