Notice

[Emergency] Cyclone Idai in Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe

Situation 

The cyclone with winds of 170km/hr and heavy rains hit the port city of Beira in Mozambique, where 90% of the land is now under water and communications are cut off. The Presidents of Zimbabwe, Malawi and Mozambique have declared these national disasters. More than a thousand people are feared to have died, several hundred more are still missing and more than two million have been left destitute and in need of aid and basic services across the region. The scale and scope of flooding has also destroyed homes, hospitals, schools and agricultural land, apart from washing away bridges and making multiple key roads impassable. Some communities can only be reached by helicopter or boat. People flooded from their homes have gathered in transit camps with no water or sanitation services.  They haven't eaten for days. Some others are still waiting to be rescued, clinging to treetops or on mountainsides. 

▲ Survivors of Cyclone Idai search for bodies in eastern Zimbabwe. Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi/AP/REX

 What Oxfam is doning 

Despite these huge access challenges, Oxfam teams are working around the clock to assess the needs of those worst affected. We are planning to reach up to 775,000 people across the three countries with clean water, sanitation services, food and other non-food items like emergency shelters, in coordination with local partners. 

• In Mozambique, where 2.1 million people are affected, we are planning to reach 525,000 people in partnership with Care and Save the Children through a program to restore basic social services including access to healthcare, education and water.
• In Malawi, where 13 districts have been impacted, we are aiming to help 200,000 people.
• In Zimbabwe, where the hardest-hit district of Chimanimani remains inaccessible, we are looking to help 200,000 people.

    
▲(Left)People trudge through a muddied path to safer ground in Chimanimani, (Right) Oxfam's humanitarian response team in South Africa


“The impact on affected areas has been devastating. We are already beginning to focus on work that will help recover people’s livelihoods, prevent water-borne diseases, and protect displaced people.”
said Oxfam’s southern Africa Regional Director Nellie Nyangwa.

  * The money you raise will help lift people out of poverty across the globe and provide for Oxfam’s emergency response including Cyclone Idai response.