Hundreds are dead, many more missing and thousands at risk from massive flooding in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe caused by Cyclone Idai and persistent rains.
International aid agencies and government officials are scrambling Tuesday to rescue families trapped by the floodwaters from rivers that have burst their banks and are still rising.
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Hundreds are dead, many more missing and thousands at risk from massive flooding in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe caused by Cyclone Idai and persistent rains.
Hardest hit by the cyclone is Mozambique's Beira port, a city of 500,000, where thousands of homes have been destroyed. Flooding waters have inundated large areas of rural Mozambique and its neighboring countries.
Schoolchildren are stranded across a collapsed bridge in Chimanimani, southeast of Harare, Zimbabwe, Monday, March 18, 2019. (AP PhotoTsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
Luckymore Rusero and his family walk past a collapsing road in Chimanimani, southeast of Harare, Zimbabwe, Monday, March 18, 2019. (AP PhotoTsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
A woman makes her way to a school building being used as an emergency shelter for some 300 local people who are unable to return to their homes following cyclone force winds and heavy rain in the coastal city of Beira, Mozambique, Sunday March 17, 2019. More than 1,000 people are feared dead in Mozambique four days after a cyclone slammed into the southern African country destroying vulnerable residential areas. (Josh EsteyCARE via AP)
The poor neighbourhood of Nhamudima, which has been razed by the passing cyclone, in the coastal city of Beira, Mozambique, Sunday March 17, 2019. Families are returning to the vulnerable Nhamudima shanty town following cyclone high winds and rain. More than 1,000 people are feared dead in Mozambique four days after a cyclone slammed into the southern African country. (Josh EsteyCARE via AP)
Mozambique's President Filipe Nyusi said the death toll could go as high as 1,000 from the cyclone and flooding. Although emergency workers caution they do not know if the fatalities will reach that estimate, they say this is the most destructive flooding in 20 years.
People trudge through a muddied path to safer ground in Chimanimani, about 600 kilometers southeast of Harare, Zimbabwe, Monday, March 18, 2019. (AP PhotoTsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
Hardest hit by the cyclone is Mozambique's Beira port, a city of 500,000, where thousands of homes have been destroyed. Flooding waters have inundated large areas of rural Mozambique and its neighboring countries.
People wait in a queue to receive food supplies from soldiers in Chimanimani, about 600 kilometers southeast of Harare, Zimbabwe, Monday, March 18, 2019. (AP PhotoTsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
Schoolchildren are stranded across a collapsed bridge in Chimanimani, southeast of Harare, Zimbabwe, Monday, March 18, 2019. (AP PhotoTsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
Luckymore Rusero and his family walk past a collapsing road in Chimanimani, southeast of Harare, Zimbabwe, Monday, March 18, 2019. (AP PhotoTsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
A woman makes her way to a school building being used as an emergency shelter for some 300 local people who are unable to return to their homes following cyclone force winds and heavy rain in the coastal city of Beira, Mozambique, Sunday March 17, 2019. More than 1,000 people are feared dead in Mozambique four days after a cyclone slammed into the southern African country destroying vulnerable residential areas. (Josh EsteyCARE via AP)
The poor neighbourhood of Nhamudima, which has been razed by the passing cyclone, in the coastal city of Beira, Mozambique, Sunday March 17, 2019. Families are returning to the vulnerable Nhamudima shanty town following cyclone high winds and rain. More than 1,000 people are feared dead in Mozambique four days after a cyclone slammed into the southern African country. (Josh EsteyCARE via AP)