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Hurricane Idai triggered a "mbadive disaster" in southern Africa, which affected hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people, the UN said.
The region has been hit by floods and devastation in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi.
Mozambique's president, Filipe Nyusi, described it as a "mbadive humanitarian disaster."
He added that more than 1,000 people may have been killed after the hurricane hit the country last week.
Idai landed Thursday near the port city of Beira, in the province of Sofala, with winds of up to 177 km / h.
"This announces itself as one of the worst weather disasters in the history of the southern hemisphere," said Clare Nullis, of the UN's meteorological agency. , at the BBC on Tuesday.
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EPA
An aerial view of a badly damaged neighborhood in Beira
Christian Lindmeier of the World Health Organization said: "We need all the logistical support we can get."
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The Mozambican government said the death toll confirmed so far was 200 and that 100,000 people needed to be saved urgently near Beira.
An aerial survey of the province showed that a 50-kilometer stretch of land was under water after the Buzi River had overflowed its banks, the charity's Save The Children said.
The governor of the neighboring province of Manica, Manuel Rodrigues, said it was urgent to rescue people still trapped, BBC's José Tembe said from the capital, Maputo.
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"It's very sad and very complicated, considering what we saw when we flew over the area, we saw besieged people asking for help," Rodrigues told the meeting. press.
"They were on the roof in zinc sheet.Other under the floodwaters.We saw a lot of people.
"We can only imagine that they have been there for more than two or three days, without food and without drinking water."
"It was like a war"
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RICK EMENAKET / AFP
The Mozambican government says 100,000 people must be saved from Beira
Nelson Moda was in Beira, Mozambique when the storm hit. He told his story at the radio show BBC OS:
On March 14th, it was my son's birthday and we were all at home. In the morning, this strong storm started and moved the city, trees and houses.
It was like a war. It was horrible. The children were crying and hiding in the bathroom. I could see people dying and the house where I live was destroyed.
There are children who now have no father, no mother and no house. I saw the city where I grew up being destroyed with my naked eyes.
In Beira, there are no basic services and people do not know what they are going to eat or where they are going to sleep.
I could not sleep since that night.
In Zimbabwe, the Government indicates that 98 people have been killed and more than 200 are missing.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa said the government was carrying out relief missions and delivering food.
In the town of Chimanimani, in the south-east of the country, locals told poignant stories about how they lost loved ones when the storm struck.
Some rescuers said that houses and even bodies had been taken away, reported BBC Shingai Nyoka.
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AFP
Wood industry workers were stranded after one road was damaged at Chimanimani, in eastern Zimbabwe
Floods of up to six meters deep have caused "incredible devastation" over a vast area of Mozambique, said World Food Program Regional Chief Lola Castro.
At least 1.7 million people were directly on the path of the cyclone in Mozambique and 920,000 were affected in Malawi, the UN said.
In Zimbabwe, at least 20,000 houses were partially damaged in the southeastern city of Chipinge, and another 600 were completely destroyed.
Local officials said they were distributing rice and maize from the national food reserve to displaced people.
What do rescue teams do?
In Mozambique, several aid agencies support the government's efforts in search and rescue operations and the distribution of food aid, ReliefWeb reports.
The charity Télécoms Sans Frontières has sent a team to Beira to set up communication networks for humanitarian operations.
Many aid trucks are stranded on impbadable roads and are unable to reach their destinations. Conditions also limited air operations.
The Mozambique National Institute for Disaster Management also hosts 3,800 families in Sofala province.
The Red Cross warned that there could be an epidemic of water-borne diseases, including cholera, due to the expected contamination of the water supply and disruption of the usual treatment of water.
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