A cyclone hit southern Africa and caused more than 300 deaths, hundreds of missing and thousands of casualties

Rescuers worked tirelessly on Tuesday to rescue the victims who hung on the trees and piled on the roofs as the water rose rapidly., after a cyclone triggered devastating floods in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi. More than 300 people have died, hundreds have disappeared and thousands more are at risk of dying, according to the latest badessment of the authorities.

The president of mozambique Filipe Nyusi said that there were more than 200 confirmed deaths in his countrywhile in Zimbabwe a minister said to have reports of 100 dead but he added that the figure could reach 300.

President Nyusi said that in Mozambique "we already have more than 200 dead and about 350,000 people are in danger". The head of state offered this information after attending a government meeting in Beira, the most affected by the storm in the center of the country. "We are in an extremely difficult situation," said Nyusi.

"It's the worst humanitarian crisis in Mozambique's recent history"said Jamie LeSueur, head of the intervention teams in Beira of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. At least 400,000 people became homeless.

Relief operations are concentrated at Beira airport, one of the few places in the city in communication, he added. BEira is a port city of Mozambique with 500,000 inhabitants.

Humanitarian workers said the rapid rise in water levels had created a "Inland Ocean" in Mozambique which endangers tens of thousands of families. The emergency teams were trying to rescue cyclone survivors Idai by throwing food, water and blankets in the air.

The President of Mozambique, Filipe Nyusi said that the toll of cyclone victims and floods could reach 1,000 people.

Floods are the most destructive in the region for 20 years, according to rescue teams. It is expected that heavy rains will continue until Thursday.

"It's a big humanitarian emergency that gets worse every hour"said Hervé Verhoosel of the World Food Program. A large number of people "cover the roofs and the raised ground outside the port of Beira", he added.

Cultivated rivers Pungue and Buzi flooded vast areas of Mozambique and created "inner oceans that stretch for miles in all directions"said Verhoosel. The dams had a capacity of between 95% and 100%.

"People who are visible from the air can be lucky and the priority is to rescue as many people as possible", he added.

Hurricane Idai caused mbadive damage through central Mozambique, followed by heavy rains in the eastern mountains of neighboring Zimbabwe. These waters are now returning to Mozambique, aggravating floods in the countryside.

"It's horrible," he says. Associated press Caroline Haga, Red Cross, Beira. "Yesterday, during an aerial visit, we saw people on rooftops and tree branches. The waters continue to grow and we are desperately trying to save as much as possible. "

The waters flooded a strip of land about 50 kilometers wide in central Mozambique, endangering more than 100,000 people, the aid group said. Save the children.

The area most affected by the pbadage of Idai is Beira, where thousands of houses have been destroyed.

The city and its surroundings do not have electricity and almost all communication lines have been cut off. The main hospital in Beira has suffered major damage, such as those recorded in the cities of Dondo and Chimoio, in the center of the country.

Doctors Without Borders stated that their work in Beira and other local health centers had "Ceased completely" and stated that he was working on the resumption of operations. The agency expects that water and hygiene will be the main needs in the coming days.

The disaster also affects Malawi and Zimbabwe, where hundreds of deaths, many missing people and thousands of people are at risk. The Zimbabwean government has stated that the official death toll in the country has risen to 98 people.

At the city of Chimanimani, located in a mountainous region and one of the most affected by the pbadage of the meteor, is accessible only by helicopter because of cut roads.

In Malawi, many homes have overflowed rivers and in the southern district of Nsanje, about 11,000 homes have been evicted.

By Farai Mutsaka and Andrew Meldrum for Associated Press