Rescue efforts continue following Cyclone Idai

Rescue workers on Thursday intensified efforts to assist stranded victims of Cyclone Idai, which struck southern Africa last week killing hundreds of people. The storm hit Mozambique late Thursday before moving into Zimbabwe and Malawi. In Mozambique’s worst-hit area, the port city of Beira, floodwaters covered a 31-mile expanse of farms and villages. Teams rescued 910 stranded people on Wednesday, said Caroline Haga with the International Federation of the Red Cross. “We are hoping to rescue as many as we can today, as it is not raining,” she said Thursday.

Celso Correia, the Mozambican land and environment minister, said working teams on Wednesday counted 15,000 people who still needed rescue. “They’re alive, we’re communicating with them, delivering food, but we need to rescue them and take them out,” he said.

Damaged roads and infrastructure continue to hinder access to some affected villages. In Zimbabwe’s Chimanimani district, about 200,000 people will urgently need food in the coming months, the World Food Program said.