Tens of thousands of people continue to wait for help in the disaster area after Cyclone "Idai". Although many humanitarian organizations have now reached the heavily devastated seaport of Beira in Mozambique. However, the needs of local people are so overwhelming that the helpers can hardly do them justice.
Small children were sometimes wandering around alone, reports the child protection organization "Save the Children". "Many unaccompanied children have experienced traumatic situations - some have seen their mother or father washed away, or lost siblings," said Field Operations Officer Machiel Pouw.
"The extent of the crisis is staggering," said Elkad Sy Sy, secretary general of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), after a visit to Beira. According to the UN estimate, 1.8 million people are affected in the region in Southeast Africa.
More than 600 deaths
Themba Hadebe / AP
A small child in Mozambique is being lifted out of a boat (March 23)
The disaster area stretches hundreds of kilometers from Mozambique to Zimbabwe and Malawi. The remote regions in particular are still difficult or impossible to reach, reports UN aid organizations. The cyclone "Idai" had traveled across Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe on 15 March, devastating vast tracts of land and flooding it with heavy rains.
Far more than 600 people have died according to official figures so far - the actual number is likely to be significantly higher, believe relief organizations. Many regions are still inaccessible, many people are still missing.
More and more rain and destroyed roads complicate the supply of cyclone victims. Middle of the week threatening new heavy rainfall. Food is already scarce in Beira, as journalists reported.
The 500,000 inhabitants are displaced people from the area who have lost all their possessions. Altogether, at least 600,000 people have lost their homes due to the natural disaster.
Diseases can spread widely
The UN World Food Program (WFP) has greatly expanded its emergency response. The dimension of the disaster is the worst fear, the organization said. The operation is now on a par with the crisis relief in Yemen, in Syria and in South Sudan, it said.
It is also worrying that diseases could spread rapidly in the flood plains as there are few toilets and clean drinking water is lacking. In the flooded areas, the number of malaria sufferers is rising, said the Red Cross general secretary.
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Helper in the disaster area: The suffering after "Idai"In the stagnant water, the malaria-transmitting mosquitoes can multiply extremely fast. "While the search and rescue of survivors continues, we must do everything we can to prevent water-borne diseases from catastrophic disaster," UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore said.
In order to ease the situation, the German Technical Relief Agency (THW) has flown two plants for the treatment of drinking water to Beira. The facilities should arrive on Sunday and can ideally be put into operation on Tuesday. You can process up to 10,000 liters of water per hour.