Cyclone "Idai": "Many have no home to return to"

About ten days ago, tropical storm "Idai" passed through Southeast Africa - and the extent of the catastrophe in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi still can not be definitively estimated. At least 700 people died according to the United Nations (UN). But probably the number will increase, because hundreds of people are missing. According to the UN, about three million people are affected by the effects of the cyclone.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres described the situation as one of the "worst weather-related disasters in the history of Africa", which is also a result of global warming. "We fear that in places we have not yet reached, entire villages have been washed away," says Guterres.

Even when approaching Beira in Mozambique, one can guess how great the destruction is, says Kerstin Bandsom, Welthungerhilfe's communications officer in crisis and catastrophe situations: "They get stomach depressions when they look out over the air at the city."

Uprooted trees, branches and filth are everywhere, there is hardly anything left of many houses, says Bandsom. Stable buildings would still stand, but would have almost all damage to windows and roofs. In the midst of chaos, there is also reason for hope: "You can see that people have the will to help themselves quickly," says Bandsom. For example, city dwellers would start supporting and tidying roofs.

Bandsom arrived on Monday with two colleagues from the emergency response team in Beira. The Spiegel arrives on Tuesday by phone in a hall at the airport. Representatives of aid organizations and the UN and government delegations can exchange information and coordinate help here. "It's the only place in Beira where we have electricity and the Internet," says Bandsom.

"Due to the floods there is a risk of epidemics"

Also Jennifer Bose of emergency relief team of the aid organization Care calls from this hall. Although water levels are slowly decreasing, many areas remain accessible only by boats and helicopters, says Bose. The inland seas created by flooding not only make access to those affected more difficult: "The floods present a disease risk," says Bose. Aid agencies distribute water purification tablets, soap and mosquito nets to prevent the spread of disease.

The World Health Organization (WHO) sent 900,000 cholera vaccines to Mozambique. In Beira, three cholera treatment centers are being set up, says WHO director in Mozambique, Djamila Cabral. The first illnesses are already occurring: So far, five cases have been confirmed, the Ministry of Health said. But not only diarrheal diseases are a threat: "We are also preparing for a high increase in malaria in the coming weeks," says Cabral.

Thousands of people still live in overcrowded shelters: "Many have no home to return to," says Care Representative Bose. She had talked to a young woman who, with her husband and two children, has spent the past twelve days with 15 people in a small room in a school.

When "Idai" landed, the house of the family collapsed, according to Bose. One and a half hours parents and children ran through waist-high water before they found in school. They would, among other things, have dragged their fridge with them. Soon they wanted to return to their property - although the money for reconstruction is missing. For now, the family will probably live in a tent that they got from the aid organization.

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Public attention is focused on Mozambique. Most people died in the country, with Beira an important city was hit. But neighboring Zimbabwe and Malawi are also suffering from the effects of the storm. Johannes Kaltenbach is the country director of Welthungerhilfe in Malawi. He complains that the country is often forgotten: "The situation here is also bad," he says.

The storm had hit especially small farmers who had just laboriously recovered from the drought crisis of 2016. "Everything is gone now," he says. Large parts of the crops had been destroyed. In the next season, the population would have to start from scratch - without support that would be almost impossible.

Especially in the south of the country in early March, the precursors of the cyclone have overflowed rivers. "In the villages, the water was three, four meters high," says Kaltenbach. Many houses had been torn away, people have fled to higher elevations.

Even now, weeks later, the danger is not over. Many buildings are made of mud bricks, which are now soaked. According to Kaltenbach, people are afraid to return to their villages: they never knew if their hut would collapse over them at the next rainfall.