Fatshimetrie is a digital newspaper that strives to cover global news with accuracy and depth. Recently, Cyclone Chido hit Mozambique, leaving a trail of unprecedented destruction.
Images shared by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reveal devastating scenes: boats stranded along the shore, palm trees bent under the force of the devastating winds. The province of Cabo Delgado, home to about 2 million residents, suffered extensive damage, according to the agency.
Guy Taylor, UNICEF Mozambique’s chief of advocacy and communications, shared his observations from Pemba, the capital of Cabo Delgado province.
In the morning, Cyclone Chido made landfall as a powerful tropical cyclone, unleashing strong winds and torrential rains.
“UNICEF is concerned about the immediate impacts of this cyclone: the loss of life, the damage to schools, homes, health care facilities. We are also concerned about the long-term impacts: children at risk of being deprived of education for weeks, people unable to access health care, and the potential spread of waterborne diseases such as cholera and malaria,” he said.
Taylor added in a video that communities could be cut off from schools and health care services for an extended period.
The cyclone caused at least 11 deaths in the French territory of Mayotte, with the neighboring islands of Comoros and Madagascar also feeling its impact.
The cyclone season in the southeast Indian Ocean runs from December to March, and southern Africa has faced a series of intense storms in recent years.
Cyclone Idai in 2019 caused more than 1,300 deaths in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe.
Last year, Cyclone Freddy caused more than 1,000 deaths in several countries.
These cyclones pose threats of flooding and landslides, and the stagnant water left behind can lead to outbreaks of waterborne diseases such as cholera, as well as dengue fever and malaria.
Research indicates that the severity of these cyclones is increasing due to climate change.
This is forcing impoverished nations in southern Africa, which contribute little to global warming, to face major humanitarian crises, highlighting their urgent need for assistance from wealthier countries to cope with the effects of climate change.
Cyclone Chido is not only a natural calamity, it also highlights the urgent need for concrete action to mitigate the effects of climate change and support vulnerable populations facing these disasters. It is time to act collectively to protect our planet and its most fragile inhabitants.