Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Rescue, Relief Efforts Underway in Cyclone-Hit Southern Africa

by VOA News

   International aid workers are scrambling to deliver desperately needed
   relief supplies and rescue scores of survivors who have been stranded
   since Cyclone Idai struck three southern African nations last week.

   Helicopters are conducting food drops over villages that were destroyed
   and cut off from the outside world after the cyclone hit Mozambique's
   port city of Beira, then swept inland to neighboring Zimbabwe and
   Malawi. Aid officials say an untold number of survivors are clinging to
   tree tops or are trapped on rooftops of houses that remain submerged by
   flood waters.

   Idai carried sustained winds of up to 170 kilometers an hour, making it
   one of the most destructive storms to strike southern Africa in
   decades.

   The combined death toll in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi has risen to
   more than 300 people, a number which is expected to climb as the flood
   waters recede and search crews finally enter the damaged areas.
   President Filipe Nyusi of Mozambique has said he expects the death toll
   to exceed 1,000 in his nation alone. Mozambique began three days of
   official mourning Wednesday.

   Aid agencies said they prepared for the cyclone but not the massive
   floods that followed. Mozambique was hardest hit as a result of rivers
   flowing downstream from its neighbors.

   The U.N. World Food Program said it was transporting enough aid for
   600,000 people across the three nations. The U.N. said it has allocated
   $20 million from its central emergency response fund and urged other
   donors to contribute. The European Union announced an initial aid
   package for the storm-stricken countries valued at nearly $4 million.
   Britain and the United Arab Emirates have also promised aid.

   The U.S. State Department said the United States is supporting relief
   efforts "in coordination with our partners."