Tropical Cyclone Idai was one of the worst tropical cyclones on record to affect Africa and the Southern Hemisphere as a whole. The long-lived storm caused catastrophic damage in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Malawi, leaving more than 1,000 people dead and thousands more missing.
Idai brought strong winds and caused severe flooding in Madagascar, Mozambique, Malawi, and Zimbabwe, which killed 1,074 people – 598 in Mozambique, 415 in Zimbabwe, 60 in Malawi, and one in Madagascar – and affected more than 3 million others. Catastrophic damage occurred in and around Beira in central Mozambique.
A major humanitarian crisis unfolded in the wake of the cyclone, with hundreds of thousands of people in urgent need of assistance across Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
A cholera outbreak ensued in the storm’s wake in Beira, with more than 500 confirmed cases and one fatality by 31 March.
Infrastructural damages from Idai across Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Madagascar and Malawi were estimated to be at least US$1 billion (2019 USD), making Idai the costliest tropical cyclone in the South-West Indian Ocean basin.
More about Cyclone Idai:
Beira, one week after the apocalypse
Mozambicans line up for cholera vaccines to fight outbreak
Gift of the Givers page on Cyclone Idai
The Cradle Tourism Company has asked its members to donate sheets, towels and other items:
“Cyclone Idai has caused devastation in a number of countries but particularly our neighbor Mozambique. It has affected the poorest of the poor in ways we find particularly unimaginable. Only today we have heard news of a full blown cholera outbreak. People have lost their homes; their families; their belongings; their past and their future – All they have is the devastation of the present.
We are requesting as members of TCTC that we dig deep; think big and help this crisis in any way that we possibly can.
Please pool your donations of condemned hotel linen; towels (hotel outlets) and any other items you are able to contribute for us to donate to the relief organisations.
DROP OFF POINTS:
@MAROPENG
If you would like to email details of your donations / queries to [email protected] (please don’t phone) or on delivery, kindly contact Maropeng Reception, either Masego/Tiisetso.
@ROSEWELL COUNTRY HOUSE & SPA
If you would like to email details of your donations to[email protected] or 083 324 2751 on delivery, kindly contact Rosewell Reception.”
If you are able to donate cash, it is best to give directly only to charities that you are confident are legitimate and recognized for providing disaster or humanitarian relief.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF): MSF scales up response to Cyclone Idai
International Red Cross: Operational update on Cyclone Idai: Destruction and anguish as thousands remain homeless
Author: Derrick Markotter
RCCI Webmaster Derrick runs a boutique web marketing agency, IdealMedia Marketing.