Cyclone Idai: What are the immediate dangers?

Parts of southern Africa have been left devastated after Cyclone Idai swept through Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe. Hundreds of people have been killed and hundreds of thousands more affected.

Even though the cyclone hit Mozambique over a week ago, aid agencies are warning that the disaster is getting worse. Here are some reasons why.

The storm made landfall near the port city of Beira on Thursday March 14, and the subsequent flood submerged much of the city.

But aid agencies warn that other areas continue to be at risk of becoming submerged.

That’s because it is still raining.

Two rivers, including the Buzi, burst their banks after rain in Zimbabwe and Malawi at the weekend, sending even more torrents of water into Mozambique.

And more rivers risk bursting their banks, says Rotafina Donco, Oxfam programme manager in Mozambique.

She told BBC Newsday that this rain was affecting most of the rivers in Mozambique that flow into the Indian Ocean.

She said she expected more casualties.

As late as Tuesday, she received information that people in Manica province, near the Zimbabwean border, much further inland from the epicentre of the crisis, Beira, were stranded on rooftops because one of the rivers had burst and the area had become submerged.

In Mozambique waters are expected to rise by up to eight metres, putting at least 350,000 people at risk, says the Disaster Emergencies Committee (DEC).

A similar situation is playing out in Zimbabwe.

Herve Verhoosel, spokesperson for the UN World Food Programme said in a statement that heavy rains in Manicaland and Masvingo provinces continue to cause massive destruction.

The Marowanyati dam in Buhera, Manicaland has overflowed, raising river levels, he added.

An outbreak of cholera could lead to the death toll increasing exponentially.

Cholera is spread through human waste in the water supply.

The flood water itself isn’t the primary risk. Instead the risk comes because the existing drinking water supplies have been damaged by the flooding.

This means people are finding it harder to find safe water. Larger groups of people are also sharing the same water supply, which increases the risk of cholera spreading quickly.

“It’s bound to rear its head at some point,” says Paolo Cernuschi, Zimbabwe Country Director at the International Rescue Committee. –BBC