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FROM THE FIELD

Mozambique: cyclone "Jokwe" causes widespread devastation in Quinga
14 Mar 2008 17:53:00 GMT
 Source: International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) - Switzerland
By Martina Schwikowski, International Federation, in Nampula Province

Website: Website: http://www.ifrc.org

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Even the strongest trees could not resist the strength of the cyclone. However, as soon as the cyclone alert was given, The Mozambique Red Cross volunteers were able to warn local communities, avoiding a higher death toll.
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Even the strongest trees could not resist the strength of the cyclone. However, as soon as the cyclone alert was given, The Mozambique Red Cross volunteers were able to warn local communities, avoiding a higher death toll.

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The little girl is still without a name, but the night she was born her parents will remember the terrifying moment when cyclone „Jokwe" caused havoc in their village and took the roof off their house. "It was the middle of the night, when I heard the cashew nut tree fall with a big noise," says the father, Xavier Momade. "The house began to shake and I knew I had to get my wife to a safer place because she was about to give birth." The young man moved her to the tiny local health post while "Jokwe" hit Quinga in the northern province of Nampula last Sunday. As other villagers ran to seek refuge in more solid buildings than their straw huts, Momade also took his three other children to the new school building and took refuge.

When the worst was over, his village had turned into what looked like a battlefield, caused by the violent winds coming from the Indian Ocean and destroying what the inhabitants of Quinga had built over time. Houses have collapsed, parts of roofs were lying everywhere, and even big tree trunks had given in against the powerful cyclone making its way through the landscape to the next village.

"My school is completely gone," says Xavier Momade as he points to the structure of tree planks which used to hold up the roof of the room where he used to teach. Some 1110 children were attending six village schools in Quinga, says the 31 year-old teacher proudly, but now times are bleak. Books and other materials have been damaged or destroyed and are not usable even for giving classes under a tree.

Some 18,000 people live in Quinga, and there seems to be no family which is not affected by the storm. Three adults and one child died, according to a team of teachers, trying to get an exact overview of the damage. But it is very difficult to know the extent of damages because paths are blocked by fallen trees and the communication system is out-of-order. The solar panel on the health post roof is destroyed and there is no electricity to use the radio, the only connection between this remote area to the outside world, which is a long, bumpy drive away from Nampula city.

Medical treatment will become more difficult daily. The stock room in the health post is almost empty except for some painkillers. The maternity ward is under water and the roof is leaking.

"People need shelter urgently," says Xavier Francisco, head of the local Red Cross office in Nampula. "They are sleeping outside and are most vulnerable to malaria". Mosquito nets, sleeping mats and 130 tents are waiting in the warehouse in Nampula to be distributed. The provincial governor is carrying out rapid assessments in the affected areas and will provide transport for relief items in cooperation with the National Disaster Institute. While assessments are ongoing, Mozambique Red Cross and other humanitarian organisations are coordinating relief efforts.

Water, sanitation and chlorine are also needed in Quinga. The inhabitants usually collect rain water in underground tanks and pump it to the surface, but the pumps are destroyed.

The threat of food shortages is looming in Quinga now, after "Jokwe" went back over the Mozambique Channel, moved further southeast towards the Provinces of Inhambane Gaza and Maputo and weakened substantially to an estimated speed between 60 and 110 km/h. The government has requested one month-food assistance from the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) for 56,000 people affected by the cyclone.

"Our fishermen lost their boats in the storm and that is one of our main sources of food," says the administrator of Quinga. The stored crop have been destroyed and the maize and cassava crops for this coming harvest in April are damaged and experienced a lot of rain this year. "Food might last for two to three more days," says Artur Mendes Catapua, the local administrator.

People in Quinga have lost everything, but they have not given up. Only five days after the storm made landfall there is activity everywhere, people are rebuilding houses, collecting palm leaves for their roofs and cleaning up. Xavier Momade has also already erected a small structure next to his old straw hut. "My wife is waiting with the baby in one of the safe buildings still standing. When our new house is finished, she will move in and I can pronounce the name of our child at home in a ritual according to our tradition,"he concludes.


[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

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[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

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Last updated:Fri Mar 14 17:59:58 2008