Evacuated people sit on the ground as they take shelter at their church after the area was destroyed and isolated by Cyclone Idai in Begaja, about 15km east from Estaquinha, Mozambique, March 26, 2019. – A cyclone which struck southern Africa has affected almost three million people, of whom nearly 500,000 have been driven from their homes, the United Nations said on on march 26. Cyclone Idai smashed into Mozambique on March 15, unleashing hurricane-force winds and rain that flooded much of the centre of the country and then battered eastern Zimbabwe and Malawi. (Photo by Yasuyoshi CHIBA / AFP)
Cyclone Idai smashed into Mozambique on March 15, unleashing hurricane-force winds and heavy rains that flooded much of the centre of the country and then battered eastern Zimbabwe and Malawi.
“We have five cases of cholera which have been confirmed. This is in Beira and the area around,” the health official, Ussein Isse, told journalists, referring to the city which bore the brunt of the cyclone’s force.
UN humanitarian aid chief Mark Lowcock has appealed for $282 million (250 million euros) of relief aid over the next three months for Mozambique.
The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) said roughly 3,125 square kilometres (1,200 square miles) of land had been swamped.
Nearly three million people across Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe have been affected according to the WFP and 500,000 displaced.