Mozambique

Type of emergency: Natural disaster

In early March 2019, heavy rains inundated Mozambique and Malawi, causing deadly floods. The storm soon developed into tropical Cyclone Idai, which made landfall near the port city of Beira and caused two major rivers to burst their banks, submerging entire villages and damaging houses. The hurricane has affected an estimated 1.8 million people in Mozambique alone, according to the United Nations. Hundreds of thousands more have been impacted in neighboring Zimbabwe and Malawi, including health and education facilities.

Cyclone Idai swept through the region during the main harvest season, destroying hundreds of thousands of acres of crops, which will significantly impact food security in the months ahead. A cholera outbreak was also declared in Mozambique on 27 March, and there are rising numbers of malaria cases.

More than a month after Cyclone Idai ravaged Mozambique’s center, a new deadly storm hit the country’s north, making landfall, destroying homes, and cutting power lines. Around 21,000 people are now sheltering in accommodation centers, after their villages were wiped out. With heavy rains expected to continue in the coming days across northern Mozambique, access to the most remote areas affected by Cyclone Kenneth “remains difficult”, UNOCHA reported.

To date, the two massive cyclones have displaced more than 3 million people in Mozambique, making it two of the deadliest storms on record in southern Africa.

Country at a glance

Mozambique is highly vulnerable to extreme climatic conditions. Two out of three people are living in coastal areas vulnerable to rapid-onset disasters such as cyclones, storms and flash floods. Although the southern and central regions are prone to drought, floods frequently occur along major river basins and in poorly drained urban settlements.

The devastating impact in Mozambique continues to rise as hundreds of thousands of people are in need of food, water and shelter.

Source: ReliefWeb via UNOCHA as of 11 April

Our response

As the death toll and displacement figures keep growing, so does the need for an immediate and urgent response. At NRS Relief, we are activating our holistic ‘Rapid Response Strategy’ approach so that international organizations and local authorities get the required emergency relief supplies as quickly as possible. Our colleague Charbel Matar, Business Development & Sales Manager for MENA and Africa, recently traveled to Africa to personally meet with key responders and learn more about the full-scale devastation and help assess the beneficiaries’ real needs.

Our staff is working tirelessly to accommodate various stock and quotation requests from our customers who are responding to the crisis. In particular, we offer our life-saving water containers to enable the affected populations in Mozambique to store water safely, and our multipurpose tents which can serve as treatment centers for cholera patients.

As a trusted supplier of emergency shelters and core relief items, we aim to enable humanitarian organizations to efficiently receive and distribute vital aid to the affected communities. We believe it is our responsibility to share the message that quality means appropriate assistance and effective response.

Family and multipurpose tents spotted in camps

In a post shared by a client, we saw our Huggy 72 multipurpose tent in Beira being set up as a temporary school for children affected by Cyclone Idai. Designed to act as temporary schools in emergency situations, the tent’s high ceilings, oversized windows and great ventilation make it a great classroom.

Many children affected by #cyclone #idai in #mozambique will have seen terrible things – they lost their home, they may have lost loved ones. In Beira we’re setting up safe places where they can play, learn, socialise and feel like a child again. A first step towards recovery. pic.twitter.com/uP0Un67wgt

— Rik Goverde (@RikGoverde) March 31, 2019

We also spotted our Huggy 72 and Legend 45 multipurpose tents, supplied to our client Samaritan’s Purse, serving as emergency field hospitals for the displaced populations in Buzi:

The Samaritan’s Purse emergency field hospital set-up in Buzi, Mozambique. pic.twitter.com/8AjiG1bJVX

— Eric Kohout (@EricKohout) April 5, 2019

In a separate video, we witnessed how our multipurpose tents are being used to serve as cholera treatment centers in Mozambique:

Video courtesy of TRT World on YouTube

Furthermore, the Viva family tents which we supplied to our client Emirates Red Crescent have arrived in Zimbabwe to serve as temporary homes for those affected by the mega storm.

Video courtesy of Emirates Red Crescent on Facebook

Note: This is a developing story. New data will be added on this page upon confirmation of new orders from our clients. If you wish to receive our stock report detailing the shelter and non-food items that are ready for immediate deployment, please contact bdm@nrsinternational-fzco.com. As the goods will be mobilized, we will make sure to replenish our emergency warehouses and promptly accommodate the requirements of our customers worldwide.