Cyclone Idai: President of Mozambique announced that 1,000 people are dead

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Cyclone Idai's toll in Mozambique could be as high as 1,000, President Filipe Nyusi said.

Nyusi flew over some of the most affected areas on Monday. He described seeing bodies floating in the rivers.

The storm touched down Thursday near the port city of Beira with winds of up to 177 km / h (106 mph), but rescue teams did not reach the city until Sunday.

A UN humanitarian worker told the BBC that all the buildings in Beira, home to half a million people, were damaged.

Gerald Bourke of the United Nations World Food Program said: "No building is intact, there is no electricity, there is no telecommunications. streets are littered with power lines that have broken down.

"The roofs of so many houses have fallen, as have the walls, many city dwellers have lost their homes."

The official record in Mozambique is 84 after floods and high winds. The hurricane killed at least 180 people throughout southern Africa.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has described the damage as "mbadive and horrible".

Jamie LeSeur, head of the IFRC's evaluation team, told the BBC that people needed to be saved from trees.

In Zimbabwe, at least 98 people have died and 217 people are missing in the east and south of the country, the government said.

Among the victims were two students from St Charles Lwanga Boarding School, Chimanimani District, who died after their dormitory was hit by the collapse of rocks in a mountain.

People climbed the rooftops and trees to save themselves in Beira, Mozambique

Malawi has also been hit hard. The floods that occurred there, caused by the rains that preceded the hurricane's landing, killed at least 122 people, reports Reliefweb.

The British government has announced that it will provide humanitarian aid worth 6 million pounds ($ 8 million) to Mozambique and Malawi. He also announced the sending of tents and thousands of shelter kits to Mozambique.

What is the extent of the damage to Beira?

Most of those who have died so far have been killed around Beira, the country's fourth largest city with a population of about 500,000, authorities said.

More than 1,500 people have been injured by falling trees and building debris, including a zinc roof, said officials from the capital, Maputo, to the BBC.

"Almost everything has been touched by the disaster," said Alberto Mondlane, governor of Sofala province, on Sunday, which includes Beira. "We have people who are currently suffering, some at the top of the trees and in dire need of help."

Image legendThe port city of Beira has been hit hardest by the cyclone

Image captionThe Red Cross conducted an aerial evaluation of Beira on Sunday

The people of Beira have made an "incredible effort" to reopen the city's roads, LeSeur told the BBC's Newsday program.

The road connecting Beira to the rest of the country has been damaged, but air links have now resumed. President Filipe Nyusi has shortened a trip to eSwatini, formerly Swaziland, to visit the affected areas.

What is the situation in Zimbabwe?

A state of disaster has been declared in Zimbabwe. President Emmerson Mnangagwa returned home early after a trip to the United Arab Emirates to "make sure he is directly involved in the national response," the authorities said.

The Ministry of Information shared pictures of students from St. Charles Lwanga School, who have now been saved.

Shocked survivors in a hospital in Chimanimani District described how the floods destroyed their homes and took away their loved ones.

"I still have not found where my daughter is buried in the debris," said Jane Chitsuro at the AFP news agency. "There is no furniture, no clothes, only rubble and stones."

Praise The house of Chipore was also destroyed. "My daughter who was with me in bed was washed and a bigger flood took me away," she said.

Image legendPraise Chipore, 31, was recovering at Chimanimani hospital

"I have never seen anything like it"

Shingai Nyoka, BBC Africa, East Zimbabwe

My trip to Chimanimani ended abruptly when we encountered a huge crater on the road. The river was raging below and dozens of people stood on each side.

It was the main road connecting the city of Mutare to the villages of Chimanimani, which were cut off. The rescue teams were unable to pbad.

The inhabitants of this region say they have never seen anything like it. An elderly couple, Edson and Miriam Sunguro, told me that they were trying to contact relatives at Chimanimani without success.

What time will it be after?

"There is a risk of additional rain in the coming days for the northern half of Mozambique and southern Malawi," said Chris Fawkes of BBC Weather.

There could be storms, he adds, but "the situation is complicated by the thick layers of clouds left by Idai that could prevent some thunderstorms from starting."