Number of people affected by #Dineo rises to 650,000, death toll at seven, 55 injured – Mozambique

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Number of people affected by #Dineo rises to 650,000, death toll at seven, 55 injured – Mozambique

8:37 CAT | 17 Feb 2017

Lusa

The number of people affected by the cyclone which struck Mozambique’s southern province of Inhambane on Wednesday rose to 650,000, reported the National Emergency Operational Center (CENOE) which kept the death toll at seven.

CENOE said, in a report Lusa had access to, that the number of people affected by Dineo rose from 130,000 to 650,000, adding that 55 people were injured, of whom four are currently in critical condition.

Concerning the damage, the report indicates that 106 public buildings, 70 hospital units, 998 classrooms, three communication towers, 48 electricity poles and two water supply systems were damaged.

“As response actions, monitoring and rapid assessment, shelter, planning and information teams were created,” said the document, which states that all schools have been suspended in the districts of Massinga, Morrumbene, Vilankulos, Jangamo, Inhambane and Maxixe.

The cyclone began as a tropical depression in the Mozambique Channel and increased speed as it approached the coast, with winds reaching speeds of more than 100 kilometers per hour by noon Wednesday, with gusts of up to 150 kilometers per hour.

The districts of Massinga, Morrumbene, Maxixe, Jangamo, Zavala, Homoíne Vilanculos Inharrime and Inhassoro, all in the coastal zone, were hardest hit, leading Mozambican authorities to activate emergency operational centers there.

“At the moment, work to update data is underway, but we have problems due to lack of communication, as access is limited,” the director of the National Emergency Operational Center (CNOE Mauricio Xerinda said on Thursday at a press conference, adding that much of Inhambane province was suffering a power outage due to electricity poles have been brought down.

“We are providing tents and food to affected families,” he said, adding that that the Mozambican government continued to monitor the situation in Inhambane and also in Gaza province, where cyclone damage was less severe and there were no fatalities.

Speaking at the opening of the First International Seminar of the Network of Ombudsmen and National Human Rights Commissions of the CPLP in Maputo on Thursday, Mozambican president Filipe Nyusi expressed his concern for the affected populations, promising that the government would do everything in its power to assist those affected by the storm.

“We want to send a message of great strength and courage, promising that the government will do everything it can to respond as quickly as possible to these natural disasters,” the president said.

Source: Lusa