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Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi were hit by a cyclone that killed more than 140 people, left hundreds of others missing and tens of thousands of people stranded, without roads and phones in areas mainly poor and rural.
Cyclone Idai has affected more than 1.5 million people in the three southern African countries, according to the UN and government officials.
The most affected port is Beira, the port city of Mozambique, where the airport is closed, electricity is cut off and many homes have been destroyed.
The storm hit Beira late Thursday night and headed to the west, Zimbabwe and Malawi, affecting thousands of other people, particularly in the eastern areas bordering Mozambique.
Houses, schools, businesses, hospitals and police stations were destroyed by the cyclone. Thousands of people have been stranded by heavy floods and, caring only for life, have abandoned their property to seek safety on the heights.
United Nations agencies and the Red Cross are involved in relief efforts, including the delivery of food and medicine by helicopter to poor countries in southern Africa.
The issue is "constantly changing," UN News spokesman for the World Food Program, Herve Verhoosel told UN News.
Mozambique's president, Filipe, said the damage is "very disturbing" and the floods have made landing difficult.
with tourists. No tourist deaths have been recorded, he said.
Among the dead are two schoolchildren among dozens of children trapped in a dormitory after stones fell from a nearby mountain, Mangwana said.
Roads and bridges have been swept away, slowing down relief efforts by the military, government agencies and non-governmental organizations, he said.
Zimbabwean TV channel ZBC reported that 150 people were missing.
The South African armed forces have sent planes and 10 medical personnel to help Mozambique and Malawi, the group said in a statement released on Saturday.
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