The passage of Cyclone Chido in Mozambique caused at least 94 deaths, according to a new toll up by 18 deaths released on Sunday by the Institute of Risk and Disaster Management of this southern African country.
The inventory of damage from the cyclone, which also devastated the small French archipelago of Mayotte, also soared with more than 110,000 homes destroyed in Mozambique where the depression hit the continent last week.
Particularly virulent winds, with gusts recorded at “around 260 km/h” and rains of “250 mm in 24 hours” ravaged the province of Cabo Delgado (north) where more than 500,000 of the 620,000 people affected by the virus are concentrated. the consequences of the storm.
Images from Unicef in the Mecufi district, the most affected, show scenes of desolation with gutted huts and solid buildings with their roofs cut off.
The total count of nearly 670 injured has not changed since the day before in this country, one of the poorest on the planet, plagued last year by the worst drought in a century in southern Africa, according to the World Food Program.
The presidential candidate of the historic ruling party, Daniel Chapo, whose proclaimed victory caused a post-electoral crisis with 130 unprecedented deaths in the Portuguese-speaking state, was visiting the affected areas on Sunday.
The one who is to be inaugurated president on January 15, if the Constitutional Council approves the results by Monday, called on public television “all districts” to donate “food, clothes”. “Even if we use them, our brothers need them,” he urged.
Mozambique remains the country where the toll from the cyclone is heaviest. In Mayotte, 35 dead and some 2,500 injured were counted by the French Interior Ministry. But “it is likely that there are many more victims,” warned French President Emmanuel Macron during his visit to the devastated island on Thursday.
Due to the presence of Comorian nationals in Mayotte, neighboring Comoros, which also claims sovereignty over the French archipelago, declared a week-long national mourning, even though they did not suffer any deaths on their territory. territory.
The depression, even if it lost a lot of intensity as it sank into the African continent, continued its course on Monday in Malawi where a final report recorded 13 deaths and nearly 30 injured.
