Mozambique’s extreme weather led to 142 deaths, 1m affected in last rainy season: Report

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Picture source: World Bank

The natural disasters that affected Mozambique last rainy season caused a total of 142 deaths, having affected about one million people, the National Institute for Disaster Risk Management and Reduction (INGD) reported.

“These extreme events affected about one million people, representing approximately 200,000 families,” INGD director-general Luisa Meque said.

The natural disasters that struck the country, between cyclones, heavy rains and tropical depressions, left a total of 404 people injured, mostly in the province of Nampula, in northern Mozambique, as a result of collapsed homes.

“As a way of alleviating the suffering of the affected people, with the support of the national humanitarian team, INGD continues to provide multiform assistance to around 900,000 people, representing approximately 200,000 families, of which 468,623 are children,” she added.

For the INGD director-general, the definition of innovative strategies and solutions to increase the resilience of communities and infrastructures remains the priority.

“The Mozambican population demands from us innovative solutions to increase human and infrastructural resilience to extreme events,” she stressed.

Mozambique is considered as one of the most severely affected countries by climate change in the world, facing cyclical flooding and tropical cyclones during the rainy season, which runs from April to October.

During the 2020/2021 rainy season, the country was hit by extreme weather events including storm Chalane and cyclones Eloise and Guambe, as well as weeks of heavy rain and flooding.