Southern Africa - Tropical Cyclone Idai - Fact Sheet #10 FY2019

May 2, 2019

Highlights

• Tropical Cyclone Kenneth makes landfall over Mozambique on April 25, following Tropical Cyclone Idai in mid-March
• To date, Tropical Cyclone Kenneth continues to cause heavy rains in northern Mozambique
• Tropical Cyclone Kenneth affects an estimated 190,000 people in Mozambique and leaves nearly 41,200 people in need in Comoros
• USAID DART continues to respond to needs arising from Tropical Cyclones Kenneth and Idai in Mozambique

Key Developments

On April 25, Tropical Cyclone Kenneth made landfall over Mozambique’s Quissanga district, Cabo Delgado Province, with winds estimated at 140 miles per hour. As of April 30, Tropical Cyclone Kenneth had caused at least 41 deaths and affected approximately 190,000 people in the country’s Cabo Delgado and Nampula provinces, according to the UN. On April 26, U.S. Ambassador to Mozambique Dennis W. Hearne declared a disaster due to the effects of Tropical Cyclone Kenneth in Mozambique. In response, the USAID Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) in Mozambique is conducting assessments and supporting response activities in coordination with the Government of Mozambique (GRM) and humanitarian partners.

Prior to reaching Mozambique, Tropical Cyclone Kenneth made landfall over the Union of Comoros’ Grande Comore Island on April 24, with winds up to 70 miles per hour. Initial Government of the Union of Comoros (GoC) estimates indicate the cyclone had caused at least four deaths, injured more than 180 people, and left nearly 41,200 people in the country’s Anjouan, Grande Comore, and Mohel islands in need of emergency assistance as of April 29. UN agencies, the Comoros Red Crescent, and local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are coordinating with the GoC to respond to acute needs resulting from the impact of Tropical Cyclone Kenneth in the Union of Comoros.

Separately, relief actors are continuing to respond to humanitarian needs arising from Tropical Cyclone Idai, which made landfall over Mozambique’s Sofala Province in mid-March. The GRM reported that the official count for Tropical Cyclone Idai and flood-related deaths in Mozambique remained at 603 people as of April 30. In addition, nearly 73,000 people were continuing to shelter in an estimated 65 accommodation centers across the country’s Manica, Sofala, Tete, and Zambézia provinces due to Tropical Cyclone Idai as of April 22, the GRM reports.

MOZAMBIQUE

Current Situation

Tropical Cyclone Kenneth made landfall over Quissanga on April 25, affecting populations in Cabo Delgado and Nampula. The storm affected separate areas of the country as compared to Tropical Cyclone Idai, which made landfall over Sofala Province’s Beira city on March 15 and affected Manica, Sofala, Tete, and Zambézia. Humanitarian actors do not expect Tropical Cyclone Kenneth to disrupt ongoing response activities in areas impacted by Tropical Cyclone Idai.

The UN reports that Tropical Cyclone Kenneth had resulted in at least 41 deaths and 38 injuries in the country as of April 30. Initial estimates indicate Tropical Cyclone Kenneth had affected approximately 190,000 people, with more than 20,900 people displaced and sheltering in more than 30 accommodation centers in Cabo Delgado’s Macomia, Mecufi, Metuge, Mocimboa da Praia, Muidumbe, Palma, Pemba, and Quissanga districts and Nampula’s Memba district as of April 30. Additionally, the UN reported that the cyclone had damaged or destroyed more than 37,700 homes, approximately 250 classrooms, and 14 health units in Mozambique.

The GRM National Institute of Disaster Management (INGC), which is leading response coordination for Tropical Cyclones Idai and Kenneth, reported significant damage to areas in Cabo Delgado’s Ibo, Macomia, and Quissanga districts. The storm caused extensive damage to nearly all of the homes on Ibo Island and destroyed nearly all homes on Ibo district’s Matemo Island. Cyclone-related flooding also impacted Cabo Delgado’s Pemba city. In addition, the storm made landfall during the main harvest season in Cabo Delgado and initial INGC assessments indicate the storm damaged or inundated at least 77,000 acres of crops.

Humanitarian Response and Gaps

On April 28, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock allocated $10 million from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund—a pooled humanitarian fund established and managed by the UN to support sudden-onset and underfunded emergencies—to provide life-saving assistance to populations affected by Tropical Cyclone Kenneth in Mozambique. The funding will allow response agencies to scale up food, health, shelter, and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) assistance.

The Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) in Mozambique plans to release a second revision to the 2019 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) requesting additional funding to respond to Tropical Cyclone Kenneth, pending confirmation of the impact and affected population, according to the UN. The HCT previously revised the HRP on March 25, requesting an additional $282 million to respond to the impacts of Tropical Cyclone Idai. Donors have funded 29 percent of the more than $337 million requested in the revised HRP to date.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) highlighted the need to deactivate accommodation centers in Macomia due to security concerns, noting that the sites could provide a target for non-state armed actors operating in the area. As of April 30, the UN reported more than 420 individuals sheltering in two accommodation centers in Macomia. IOM is working to close the accommodation centers and facilitate voluntary, dignified, and safe returns to areas of origin, as feasible.

Ongoing rain continues to limit the ability of humanitarian actors to conduct assessments and deliver relief commodities in areas impacted by Tropical Cyclone Kenneth. On April 29, IOM reported that several aircraft transporting relief commodities were unable to land at the Pemba airport due to severe weather; forecasts indicate the weather will improve by May 2 to enable transport. To further increase response airlift capacity, a UN World Food Program (WFP) cargo plane previously used during the Tropical Cyclone Idai response is scheduled to return to Mozambique to fly relief supplies between Beira and Pemba for those affected by Tropical Cyclone Kenneth, according to the Logistics Cluster—the coordinating body for humanitarian logistics activities, comprising UN agencies, NGOs, and other stakeholders. Logistics personnel have encouraged relief actors to utilize ground transportation to deliver supplies via passable roads to affected areas of the country.

The Logistics Cluster is targeting nearly 60 hard-to-reach areas affected by Tropical Cyclone Idai to deliver relief commodities and multi-sector assistance, as well as scaling up operations to address the needs of individuals in hard-to-reach areas impacted by Tropical Cyclone Kenneth. Relief actors are utilizing helicopters that have been extended to ensure that relief actors can reach isolated areas. The Cluster reported that all military airlift operations in Mozambique demobilized on April 27 due to the expiration of existing agreements.

Humanitarian agencies in Mozambique continue to monitor and respond to health challenges—including the spread of vector-borne and waterborne diseases—in Tropical Cyclone Idai-affected areas in the country. Health actors had reported more than 6,700 cholera cases—including eight cholera-related deaths—in Mozambique as of April 28, and approximately 16,000 malaria cases in Beira city and Buzi, Dondo, and Nhamatanda districts as of April 23. Health and WASH actors continue to implement programs in affected areas to stem the spread of cholera, noting that the daily number of new cases has continued to decline since April 17.

Relief actors have expressed coordination concerns regarding resettlements and returns in areas affected by Tropical Cyclone Idai, despite positive engagement with local authorities. The Camp Coordination and Camp Management Cluster is leading multi-sectoral assessments in resettlement areas to identify suitability and required resources to assist those who will be relocated. IOM also noted that the UN agency is working to support the relocation working group with the development of documents and tools to facilitate population movements.

USG Response and Assessments

In advance of Tropical Cyclone Kenneth, USAID partners pre-positioned relief supplies in northern Mozambique to respond to needs arising from the cyclone. WFP pre-positioned more than 1,100 metric tons (MT) of food assistance and can mobilize an additional 650 MT of food assistance. As of April 30, WFP had reached more than 14,600 vulnerable people in Cabo Delgado’s Ibo, Macomia, Mocimboa da Praia, and Palma districts. Additionally, IOM pre-positioned plastic sheeting sufficient for approximately 6,000 people and is coordinating with the INGC and other humanitarian actors on the ground to establish accommodation centers that are equipped with basic services.

On April 27, a DART member traveled to Pemba to assess the impact of Tropical Cyclone Kenneth on the city. As of May 1, the DART member reported that one river in the area had risen to alert levels and that there was no structural damage to the approximately 40 road bridges across streams and rivers in the region. However, the DART member reported heavy rains and flooding in and around Pemba, and the GRM and UN plan to issue an alert regarding the risk of flooding in the Megaruma river basin in Cabo Delgado’s Ancuabe district. Additionally, the DART member noted that that GRM is coordinating with UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA and other UN agencies to organize international assistance.

On April 26, a DART member observed a food voucher program implemented by WFP in Beira to assist individuals affected by Tropical Cyclone Idai. Following market and retail assessments, WFP determined that urban markets in the area were capable of supporting voucher programs at a modest scale and targeted an estimated 20,000 cyclone-affected households during the initial one-month pilot phase. In total, WFP has reached approximately 1.35 million people affected by Tropical Cyclone Idai to date with food distributions.

With more than $800,000 in USAID funding, MENTOR Initiative is conducting health and WASH programming in areas affected by Tropical Cyclone Idai, including implementing an Emergency Vector Control Strategy. The NGO is currently conducting training for 500 local volunteers to spray UN World Health Organization-recommended insecticides in affected areas to combat the spread of Malaria and other vector-borne diseases. The 45-day campaign aims to spray 80 percent of the shelters in Beira, Buzi, Dondo, and Nhamatanda districts to protect more than 800,000 individuals living in the affected area.

ZIMBABWE

Current Situation

As of late April, up to 70,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) continued to reside in host communities or collective shelters in Zimbabwe’s Manicaland, Mashonaland East, and Masvingo provinces due to the effects of Tropical Cyclone Idai, according to the UN. The UN reports that IDPs residing in collective shelters—including churches, hotels, schools, and other locations—will require access to longer-term displacement sites, particularly with schools set to reopen in early May.

The Government of Zimbabwe (GoZ) Ministry of Health and relief actors had vaccinated more than 385,000 people against cholera in Manicaland’s Chimanimani and Chipinge districts as of April 22; the vaccination campaign aims to reach 480,000 people by mid-May. In addition, relief actors are scaling up cholera preparedness and early warning efforts in Chipinge—located along the Zimbabwe–Mozambique border—in part to prevent the disease from spreading into Zimbabwe from Mozambique. Authorities identified one suspected case of cholera along the border in mid-April, according to the UN.

As of April 24, all sub-districts in all cyclone-affected districts of Zimbabwe were accessible by road, allowing humanitarian agencies to conduct needs assessments and response activities, according to the UN. Improved road conditions have led to a decrease in requests to transport cargo using the WFP-operated helicopter, which had transported more than 70 MT of relief commodities as of April 23. However, rainfall continues to hinder infrastructure repairs, including of the main Chimanimani–Mutare road.

Tropical Cyclone Idai has continued to negatively affected food security conditions among nearly 192,000 people in Chimanimani and Chipinge as of late April, according to the UN. While the cost of basic commodities in affected areas has remained stable prices for food-related services such as grinding mills have increased by as much as 700 percent, according to a recent assessment by relief actors. The GoZ and relief actors had provided emergency food assistance to approximately 200,000 people in affected areas as of April 24, the UN reports. WFP plans to begin a round of general food distribution in Chimanimani and Chipinge in the coming days.

Since the onset of Tropical Cyclone Idai, nutrition actors have screened more than 8,700 children younger than five years of age for acute malnutrition in Chimanimani and Chipinge, identifying and referring for treatment more than 30 cases of severe acute malnutrition and 110 cases of moderate acute malnutrition, the UN reports. In addition, WFP and nutrition partners have begun a blanket supplementary feeding program for children younger than five years of age, pregnant and lactating women, HIV and tuberculosis patients, and older people in Chimanimani.

Humanitarian agencies have provided WASH assistance to approximately 91,000 people in cyclone-affected areas as of April 23, according to the UN. Relief actors drilled nearly 20 new boreholes and repaired more than 110 boreholes in Chimanimani and Chipinge, as well as distributing hygiene kits to nearly 79,000 people in Manicaland’s Buhera and Mutare districts. However, IDP camps in Chimanimani continue to lack access to adequate WASH infrastructure, according to relief actors.

Tropical Cyclone Idai caused significant damage to education infrastructure, according to a needs assessment of more than 60 schools in six affected districts conducted by relief actors in April. More than 50 percent of assessed schools reported that the storm destroyed or rendered unsafe at least one school facility, and more than 90 percent reported loss of or damage to essential teaching and learning materials. The GoZ Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, with support from the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), had distributed educational supplies to approximately 60 schools as of April 23; preparation and procurement of additional supplies is underway and the GoZ currently plans to reopen schools on May 7.

MALAWI

Current Situation

As of April 30, humanitarian organizations had reached more than 400,000 cyclone-affected people in nine districts of Malawi with food or cash assistance, nearly 82,400 people with health services, and approximately 54,200 people with safe drinking water. Relief actors have also distributed approximately 10,000 dignity kits containing WASH items to vulnerable pregnant and lactating women and adolescent girls in IDP camps, as well as maternal health kits to additional people.

During an April 27 visit to Chikwawa’s Thundu IDP camp, Government of Malawi (GoM) Minister of Homeland Security Nicholas Dausi announced plans to assist 14,000 displaced households to return to areas of origin in Southern Region’s Chikwawa, Mulanje, Nsanje, Phalombe, and Zomba districts in coordination with the Malawi Red Cross (MRC). The GoM and MRC plan to provide returnee households with relief commodities, including food, kitchen sets, sleeping mats, tarpaulins, and WASH items. MRC also plans to construct 170 transitional shelters in the districts. Minister Dausi called on returning IDPs to voluntarily rebuild on higher ground, rather than remaining in flood-prone locations, and pledged that the GoM will support rebuilding efforts and provide education, health care, and other basic services in affected areas.

Floods resulting from Tropical Cyclone Idai caused approximately $36 million in damage to transportation infrastructure in Malawi, damaging more than 1,100 miles of road and destroying more than 100 bridges, according to a mid-April assessment by humanitarian actors. As of April 23, WFP reports that some areas of Southern Region’s Chikwawa, Nsanje, and Phalombe districts remained inaccessible by road. The GoM Department of Disaster Management Affairs is coordinating with humanitarian actors to provide air transport of relief commodities to inaccessible areas of Southern Region.

COMOROS

Current Situation

Tropical Cyclone Kenneth made landfall over the Union of Comoros’ Grande Comore Island on April 24, producing torrential rains and strong winds up to 70 miles per hour and generating heavy flooding. The cyclone had caused at least four deaths and injured more than 180 people in Comoros as of April 29, according to the UN. Although estimates vary, the GoC was reporting that the storm has displaced at least 14,500 individuals and left nearly 41,200 people in the country’s Grande Comore, Moheli, and Anjouan islands in need of emergency assistance as of April 29.

To respond to acute needs resulting from the impact of Tropical Cyclone Kenneth, UN agencies, the Comoros Red Crescent, and local NGOs are coordinating with the GoC, who is leading the response. However, relief actors report that the GoC’s limited response capacity remains a major constraint, particularly as the storm has prompted the closure of all government facilities. Widespread flooding has also damaged roads significantly, undermining responders’ ability to transport supplies to isolated, flood-affected areas.

On April 28, UN Under-Secretary-General Lowcock released $3 million from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund to provide life-saving food, health, shelter, and WASH assistance to people affected by Tropical Cyclone Kenneth in Comoros.

CONTEXT

Tropical Cyclone Idai made landfall over Mozambique’s city of Beira on March 15, producing torrential rains and strong winds and severely affecting Manica, Sofala, Tete, and Zambézia. The cyclone also caused significant flooding, damage and destruction of property and infrastructure, and resulted in numerous deaths in southern Malawi’s Chichawa, Nsanje, Phalombe, and Zomba districts and Zimbabwe’s Manicaland Province. The same weather system had previously brought heavy rains that caused significant flooding in Malawi and Mozambique in early March, before gaining strength in the Mozambique Channel and evolving into a tropical cyclone.

On March 10, U.S. Ambassador to Malawi Virginia E. Palmer declared a disaster due to the effects of floods in Malawi. In response USAID/OFDA provided an initial $200,000 to CARE and Catholic Relief Services. On March 15, U.S. Ambassador to Mozambique Dennis W. Hearne declared a disaster due to the effects of floods in Mozambique. Ambassador Hearne declared a second disaster on March 19 due to the impact of Tropical Cyclone Idai in Mozambique. In response, USAID/OFDA provided $200,000 to CARE to procure emergency relief commodities and support shelter and WASH interventions. USAID/OFDA also provided $200,000 to World Vision to respond to immediate WASH and shelter needs. On March 18, U.S. Ambassador to Zimbabwe Brian A. Nichols declared a disaster due to the impact of Tropical Cyclone Idai. In response USAID/OFDA provided an initial $100,000 to GOAL to procure emergency relief commodities and support shelter and water, sanitation, and hygiene interventions.

On March 20, USAID deployed a DART to lead the USG response to Tropical Cyclone Idai in Mozambique. USAID also activated a Washington, D.C.-based and Response Management Team (RMT) to support the DART. The DART and RMT are responding to the situation in coordination with other USG counterparts, GRM representatives, and humanitarian partners.