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Stranded: Hurricane Idai survivors gather at Buzi basketball stadium in central Mozambique – a relative refuge from flood waters. By ADRIEN BARBIER (AFP)
Perched on the terraces of a sports stadium, many stranded people stared at a basketball court filled with dirty brown water.
Five days after the violent tropical storm that struck their neighborhood of Buzi in central Mozambique, they are still blocked by floodwaters.
People gather on the roof of a house in Buzi. Some survivors say that they have lost all their property. By ADRIEN BARBIER (AFP) A little further, another group is gathered under an orange umbrella, on the roof of a church.
The stranded residents desperately want to be evacuated, but food and clean water are even more pressing needs.
"The situation is very bad, we have not eaten since Thursday, until today, we sleep outside, everything is destroyed, our houses are destroyed, everything is gone, we do not have any. we have not recovered anything, "said Aunicia Jose, 24, speaking in Gwara-Gwara, near Buzi.
South African soldiers deliver relief to Buzi. Only a few helicopters are available for this crucial work. By ADRIEN BARBIER (AFP) A group of villagers rushed to an open space where a helicopter had just dumped food, an AFP journalist said.
Joel Baertschi, a helicopter pilot from a Christian humanitarian group, told AFP that his organization had transported tons of food by plane, sometimes tearing people off the treetops and rooftops. , and was setting up a camp for the survivors.
Buzi was in the path of tropical cyclone Idai, which crashed Friday in central Mozambique before making its way through southern Malawi and Zimbabwe. By ADRIEN BARBIER (AFP) "We can clearly say that there is a lot less water now, I count one to two meters down, although I am not an expert," he said.
"When we saw them for the first time on Monday, they were in the water up to the neck."
The suburb of Buzi now looks like a vast brownish lake. But the rescue helicopter pilot, Joel Baertschi, said the waters appeared to be slowly withdrawing – a boon for distressed rescue efforts. By ADRIEN BARBIER (AFP) He added: "Most of them were on the roofs or gathered in crowded trees, and today we saw them (some) walking to Buzi.
"Although the city is still flooded, it indicates that the water is falling and that help will be easier to access."
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