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Rescuers in Mozambique are racing against time to save hundreds of people on the roofs and trees around the devastated city of Beira.
These efforts come a few days after the pbadage of a powerful cyclone, causing sudden floods, submerging whole villages and destroying communities across southeastern Africa.
Humanitarian workers spoke Wednesday about women trapped in trees "throwing their babies" on lifeboats. They talked about picking people in deep water, only to trap them in plots of land where water was reaching their ankles.
Hurricane Idai struck last Thursday in Beira with winds reaching 170 km / h, then headed to the lands of Zimbabwe and Malawi, killing hundreds and endangering the lives of millions of people .
UN officials say it could be the worst meteorological disaster in the southern hemisphere.
According to the authorities, at least 217 people have died in Mozambique, 139 in Zimbabwe and 56 in Malawi, but the death toll is expected to increase if rescuers continue to find bodies.
Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi, who declared a national emergency and three days of mourning as of Wednesday, warned that the number of people killed in the cyclone and floods could reach more than 1,000.
"It's just water, we do not see any land"
According to earlier estimates by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, 90% of Beira and its environs are "completely destroyed".
Josias Elias, found hanging on a tree almost submerged in the water, said that his entire village near Beira had been flooded.
"There is no reason to go back in. All our houses have been destroyed," he told Al Jazeera.
On Tuesday, rescuers rescued 167 people around Beira with the help of South African Air Force helicopters.
On Thursday, the Mozambican Minister of the Earth and Environment said that 3,000 people had been saved throughout the country and that 15,000 were still to be saved.
"The devastation is vast, as far as the eye can see, it's only water, you can not see any land," said Travis Trower, from Rescue South Africa group, in Al Jazeera, Beira .
"Paddle in the water and see [survivors] in the trees was absolutely devastating. "
Recalling a rescue operation in the region on Friday, he said: "The women threw their babies into our cranks and we managed to have only 20 children before canceling the operation.
"Unfortunately, when we returned to this place in the morning, these people were no longer there."
"Major humanitarian emergency"
Six days after the cyclone, rescuers are still in the "rescue phase," said Pedro Matos, emergency coordinator of the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) in Mozambique.
"We are now on the verge of taking people who have water in their heads and taking them by helicopter or boat to places where they are stuck in their ankles," he said. Al Jazeera, in Beira.
"We are not even at a stage where we can do medical badessments because they have been there for several days drinking stale water with bodies and animals."
The extent of the devastation will only be known when floodwaters from torrential rains have retreated. It will take days before the flood plains of Mozambique drain to the Indian Ocean, and aid groups have warned that the waters are still rising.
Fahmida Miller, of Al Jazeera, reporting from Beira, said residents of the city were looking for food, fuel and medicine.
Speaking at a school where hundreds of people had taken refuge, Miller said, "Several families are sitting in the same clbadroom, and they may have found shelter and shelter." Water was distributed, but there is little food. "
Dimo Marquez, a resident of the province of Manica on the border between Mozambique and Zimbabwe, told Al Jazeera that he had "lost communication" with his aunt and three cousins in Beira, the wind cyclone destroying communication lines in and around the area and under flood waters. had taken the roads of the city.
"The city is virtually non-existent now, I just want to see them all alive," Marquez from Manica said.
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| People gather on the roof of a flood-flooded house in Buzi on Wednesday [Adrien Barbier/ AFP] |
At the same time, the UN Humanitarian Office has declared that Buzi's central zone of about 200,000 people is at risk of becoming "at least partially submerged".
WFP said the cyclone and floods hit at least 2.6 million people in the region, causing a "major humanitarian emergency that is growing every hour."
The agency said the badysis of satellite images had revealed that nearly 1.7 million people in the country were on their way to Idai. 920,000 more were affected in Malawi.
"Everybody doubles, triple, quadruple what he had planned" in terms of help, said Caroline Haga of the Red Cross in Beira. "He is much bigger than anyone could ever anticipate."
The European Union has released emergency aid of $ 3.9 million and Britain has committed to pay up to $ 7.9 million.
The chairman of the African Union Commission said he would provide $ 350,000 in immediate support to the countries. The United Arab Emirates has pledged $ 4.9 million in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi, the Emirates news agency reported, citing the UAE Red Crescent. Norway said that it provided $ 700,000.
The Tanzanian army sent 238 tons of food and medicine, and three Indian Navy ships were diverted to Beira to facilitate evacuations and other efforts.
Enock Muchingo contributed to this report from the province of Manica in Mozambique.
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