URGENT Help Needed as Cyclone Idai’s Death Toll Passes 700. How YOU Can Help (Please)
BEIRA, Mozambique – Mozambique reported scores more deaths on Saturday from a cyclone and floods around southern Africa that have killed at least 732 people and left thousands in desperate need of help, many on rooftops and trees. (Please see bottom of page if you would like to help.) Help is needed swiftly, as evidenced […]
BEIRA, Mozambique – Mozambique reported scores more deaths on Saturday from a cyclone and floods around southern Africa that have killed at least 732 people and left thousands in desperate need of help, many on rooftops and trees. (Please see bottom of page if you would like to help.)
Help is needed swiftly, as evidenced in a sad scene at Beira’s central morgue, where Reuters found 56-year old Mika Masseera, grieving for his severely weakened mother, Sumbo Mufucho, 73, who died in hospital following a rescue… after she had clung to a tree for two days surrounded by floodwaters.
Canada is donating at least $3.5-million in aid, the UK over $23-million, the EU at least 3.5 million euros, and the UN has already released $20-million from its emergency fund… but much, much more is still needed to help the over 1.7 million people affected by Cyclone Idai.
In a personal appeal, UN Secretary-General António Guterres described how he was “deeply saddened by the loss of life and heart-wrenching images of human suffering” and called for more funds for the days, weeks and months to come. He said “far greater international support is needed“.
In the UK, a fund set up by the Disasters Emergency Committee had raised over £8-million in just 24 hours, with the Queen and Prince of Wales amongst those who have given donations.
The UN chief also praised rescue teams, many of whom come from neighbouring South Africa, saying they had been “working around the clock to save thousands of lives” in extremely challenging conditions.
“These heroes have not only rescued families off roofs, but are also delivering food, water purification tablets and other life-saving humanitarian assistance to survivors after communities have literally been washed away,” Guterres said in a statement.
Mercy Air, a Christian, non-profit organisation based in South Africa, was the first helicopter on the scene in Beira, Mozambique, to rescue people and provide food and supplies.
https://www.facebook.com/MercyAir/videos/2273864466267689/?__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARBol4zDPIjxAFAfjQ74UxpNJXN_yEmSBkQy9lCsxa_ss3NABTcLm72j7etGFMYoX0ucqdEtFirpneIAi0WNXHbuwxfTYxz-qaHOKD2ASOgWOhPL4ike_2UReriVUtB_DTNJ9uyQL0eEMpelMxyzs4OZFhTiCsgWpXddUsghKIieP1UuCcYH-rpYl1h72kYUInkUkFMaclke3MQGuMFxI67kUnIIkA86pAT53zqXNhhWeo2yQ0n_qfYFvDC_pwcgCtNz0OCS6D2F7Wq5ATcJVCOaIeWVRSKZrSShKxRg_pW4SQCrPZgioAAclw42O5mfUi-gyRblJWk5MM8s1hGZdRqPCFEFHYN0fSY&__tn__=-R
On Thursday, the first rescue team from Rescue SA returned to South Africa, replaced by a relief team. Their arrival at OR Tambo Airport was emotional with an eNCA reporter who accompanied them saying “if I were to tell you exactly what this team went through to save those lives, we would be here all day.” He said the experience was life-changing and “painful but heartwarming”.
Yesterday IPSS Medical Rescue also gave a shout-out to the pilots and their crew who have participated and bravely enabled so many of the rescues under trying conditions in Mozambique. “They deserve a word of recognition for their unwavering skill,” said IPSS.
Two South African heroes – Travis Trower (from Rescue South Africa) and Bradley Hatfield – can be seen in the video below helping a man to dry land. They have been rescuing stranded people from roof-tops, and then accompanying them in a helicopter to dry land.
https://www.facebook.com/Ipssmedical/videos/492150444682691/
Gift of the Givers has also been on the scene to assist injured survivors of the storm.
https://www.facebook.com/GiftoftheGivers/posts/1243251122489014/
Cyclone Idai lashed the Mozambican port city of Beira with winds of up to 170 km per hour last week, then moved inland to Zimbabwe and Malawi, swamping populations and devastating homes.
Mozambique’s death toll rose to 417 from 242, Land and Environment Minister Celso Correia said.
“The situation is getting better, still critical, but it’s getting better,” he told reporters at the airport in Beira that has become a center for aid operations.
The storm has also killed 259 in Zimbabwe, while in Malawi 56 people died in heavy rains ahead of the cyclone.
In all three countries, survivors have been digging through rubble to search for victims, and scrambling for shelter, food and water, while governments and aid agencies rush in help.
“All our food got wet, we didn’t know where to go with the children. We don’t have anything,” said Mimi Manuel, a 26-year-old mother of four who lost her home and was sitting on the floor of a makeshift shelter in a primary school in Beira.
At the refuge, families cooked with wood from trees ripped up by the storm, as toddlers played around battered school desks. Manuel wore a necklace with the word “Hope.”
DESTROYED HOUSES
“When it all started, people started screaming,” another survivor Dina Fiegado, 18, said, describing how sheet rooves blew off and rough walls collapsed in the sea-edge community of Praia Nova, where residents said about 50 people died.
“Some people tried to escape, some people tried to stay at home.”
The Mozambican minister said some 1,500 people were still in need of immediate rescue from rooftops and trees. Helicopters and boats have been carrying people to safety.
The United Nations’ humanitarian office warned that more flooding may come as heavy rains inland poured into the low-lying Beira area and nearby dams filled up threatening to burst the Buzi and Pungwe rivers again.
“We’re going to have to wait until the flood waters recede until we know the full expanse of the toll on the people of Mozambique,” said U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) coordinator Sebastian Rhodes Stampa.
Some cholera cases have been reported.
Left with nothing, many survivors were fretting for their future, while others mourned losses. And others are desperate, many just to be able to feed their children…
https://www.facebook.com/olharmocambique/videos/2342672955968515/
(Writing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo and Andrew Cawthorne/Reuters and Jenni Baxter/SAPeople; Editing by Angus MacSwan and Jenni Baxter/SAPeople)
HOW YOU CAN HELP, IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO…
The following organisations are all helping, and to do so they need our help. If you’re in a foreign country, please urge your local government to donate. Every little bit helps:
AEROCLUBE DE MOÇAMBIQUE (Aero Club of Moçambique is assisting with arranging resources and coordination task team)
MERCY AIR (Mercy Air has provided a Eurocopter and was the first helicopter to carry out rescue operations from last Saturday. They are sending a second helicopter on Monday and a Kodiak fixed wing aircraft). This post has details on how to donate in SA and around the world – click here.
GIFT OF THE GIVERS (Medical Team & assistance)
ROTARY CLUB (Assisting with monetary support for air operation & humanitarian aid enroute to Mozambique)
Servir Mozambique (Assisting with boat & ground assistance)
AFRICAN PARKS BASARUTO has sponsored a helicopter for relief efforts
PEOPLE OF SOUTH AFRICA – special message
SAPeople follower Natasha Venter is involved in the co-ordination of the top six organisations listed above. She says for those who want to donate in South Africa to victims of Idai Mozambique, please contact Henk Fensham +27 (60) 972-4202 – Henk is coordinating the pick up points, packaging and freight to Mozambique from South Africa. Below is some of what is urgently needed:
URGENT MEDICAL SUPPLIES NEEDED FOR CYCLONE IDAI SURVIVORS:
The following supplies, which will be administrated by Gift of the Givers, are urgently needed. The Aero Clube of Moçambique, along with Mercy Air and African Parks will provide aerial support for distribution.
Deadline for Maputo and Matola delivery is Monday night.
Staff Establishment:
•Doctor X 1
•Midwifery X 2
•Nurses – First Aid X 2
•Laboratory Tech X1
•Pharmacist Tech X 1
•Vaccine Tech X 1
•General Workers X 5
Structure
•Labour room
•Consulting rooms
•Laboratory
•Pharmacy
•Vaccine room
•Admission room
Offices (Dir. & Dr)
Medication Needed
•Analgesia
•Anti-biotics
•Malaria Medication •Malaria Rapid Test Kit
•IV Fluids(Admin sets &
IV jelcos)
•Oxytocin
•Chloromycin
Chronic Meds
•Epilepsy
•Hypertension
•Diabetic
•ART
•Topical Ointment
(antibiotics)
•TB treatment
Vaccines:
•Measles
•Polio
•Tetanas
•Pneumonia
•R otovirus
•Chicken pox
Disposables
•Surgical gloves
•Bandages
•Gauses
•Sanitary pads
•Diapers
•Linen savers
•Sheets
•Mattreses
•Toilet paper(admitted
adult diarrhea pt)
•Disinfectent wound
cleaning solutions
•Handwash- Disinfectent
•Cleaning disinfected
(floor and equipment)
•Linen savers
•Hypodemic needles
•Syringes
•IV Jelcos and admin
sets
•Nasogastric tubes
•Urinary catheters
•Urine bags
Fuel
Diesel for Big Generator to run the whole CHC with electricity.
Note should be taken that Dr said he got around 100 to 150 patients a day.
There is a need for food aid for overnight patients (e.g Just gave birth and living far away)
Please contact Henk Fensham +27 (60) 972-4202 to coordinate pick-up.
Gavin Neil
Aero Clube de Moçambique