Mozambique’s president, Filipe Nyusi has on Monday disclosed that the death toll from Cyclone Idai and the preceding floods could exceed a thousand lives.
A total of 84 deaths have been confirmed so far in Mozambique as a result of Cyclone Idai, which has also left a trail of death and destruction across Zimbabwe and Malawi, with vast areas of land flooded, roads destroyed and communication wiped out.
The president visited the affected region where the two rivers have overflowed and destroyed villages and swallowed several living things. Nyusi confirmed that he saw several bodies floating in water upon his visit to the area. The indication of this is that the death toll could have risen to about a thousand.
Reports had it that the cyclone also killed 89 people in Zimbabwe, while the death toll in Malawi from heavy rains and flooding stood at 56 as of last week. No new numbers had been released following the cyclone’s arrival in the country.
Nyusi flew over areas that were otherwise accessible, and some of which had been hit by flooding before Cyclone Idai.
As at Monday morning (March 18), government estimates showed that at least 89 people have died in Zimbabwe after Cyclone Idai tore across the eastern and southern parts of the country.