As Cyclone Idai waters recede, South Africa’s efforts to find and rescue the missing and bring aid to all those in need are intensifying.
South Africa – Today the South African government is set to hand over donations to assist victims in neighbouring Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
Intense Tropical Cyclone Idai is regarded as one of the worst tropical cyclones on record to affect Africa and the Southern Hemisphere as a whole. The long-lived storm caused catastrophic damage in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi, leaving more than 700 people dead, thousands missing and over 3 million people displaced. In the Southern Hemisphere, it currently ranks as the second deadliest tropical cyclone on record, having a death toll comparable to that of the 1892 Mauritius cyclone!
The tenth named storm and a record-breaking eighth intense tropical cyclone of the 2018–19 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season, Idai originated from a tropical depression that formed off the east coast of Mozambique on 4 March. The storm made landfall in Mozambique later in the day and remained a tropical cyclone through its trek over land.
Idai brought strong winds and caused severe flooding in Madagascar, Mozambique, Malawi, and Zimbabwe, which has killed over 7oo people and affected more than 3 million others.
The donations were made by South African citizens, companies and members of the Diplomatic Corps. The contributions include financial aid, clothes, water purifiers, non-perishable food items and blankets, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation said on Wednesday.
Minister Lindiwe Sisulu will facilitate the hand over where she will start at Beira in Mozambique and the Chimanimani District in eastern Zimbabwe.
Sisulu will be accompanied by members of the business community led by Patrice Motsepe, the founder and executive chairman of African Rainbow Minerals. She will also meet rescue teams, including the South African National Defence Force, South African NGOs, United Nations Agencies and volunteers.
Using its air platforms, the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has also been hard at work engaging in multilateral efforts to provide lifesaving and sustenance supplies to areas cut off by the devastating cyclone.
The SANDF was critical to all agencies operating in the area in that it provided air-lifts to assist in most low-lying areas, including Beira in Mozambique, which saw entire villages submerged underwater, with the death toll rising and many people unaccounted for.
Other international agencies have jumped in to help.
The first of three planes carrying relief items from the UN Refugee Agency landed early on Wednesday morning in the Mozambican capital, Maputo. The supplies – including tents, sleeping mats, mosquito nets, and solar lanterns – will be distributed to 30 000 people in Mozambique, as well as Malawi and Zimbabwe.
The World Health Organisation is providing supplies to treat diarrhoeal diseases and cholera, and helping to set up three cholera treatment centres.
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