US gives aid to Mozambique for Cyclone Freddy victims
Friday April 14 2023
Mozambicans on March 12, 2023 walking along a street with power lines damaged by the impact of Cyclone Freddy in the city of Quelimane. The US government has disbursed funds to help victims of the tropical storm in Mozambique. PHOTO | ALFREDO ZUNIGA | UNICEF VIA AFP
The US government has disbursed funds that will provide 30 days of emergency food assistance to 135,000 people and shelter kits to over 7,500 households affected by Cyclone Freddy in Mozambique.
The funds, which cover extensive water and sanitation support, will also be used for rehabilitation of health facilities including damaged water infrastructure.
In Mozambique, a total of 169 people died, almost 700 were injured and over a million were affected by the tropical storm Freddy.
Read: Floods force schools' closure in Mozambique
Over 130,000 houses have been totally destroyed and over 50,000 people are still displaced from their homes.
Freddy struck central Mozambique's Zambezia on March 11, destroying homes and causing widespread flooding. The storm also brought down telephone lines and power cables leading to communication outages.
Mental health support
“In hardest-hit Zambezia Province, emergency funds will provide mental health and protective support for people in emergency shelters,” the US government said Thursday.
After hitting Mozambique, the cyclone then lashed Malawi with heavy rains bringing landslides to rural areas and causing serious flooding in Blantyre.
In Malawi, the cyclone affected more than 2.51 million people, displaced over 659,000, killed 676, left 537 missing and injured 2,186.
Read: Malawi mourns Cyclone Freddy victims
Freddy is arguably the longest-lasting tropical cyclone on record in the Southern Hemisphere. It first made a landfall in mid-February afflicting Madagascar, Mauritius and Mozambique.
Usaid grants $5.75 million
According to a statement, the US government, through the United States Agency for International Development (Usaid), granted three humanitarian assistance awards totalling $5.75 million to the World Food Programme, International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and UNICEF to provide urgent assistance to the victims of Cyclone Freddy in Mozambique.
“The US also obligated $450,000 to Care International to support the distribution of shelter and water, sanitation and hygiene kits,” the statement read.
“Usaid also supports Save the Children and International Development Enterprises to assist households to participate in the second planting season. Total US emergency assistance for victims of Cyclone Freddy now exceeds $6 million,” the statement added.
“We are deeply concerned about the devastating impact of Cyclone Freddy on the people of Mozambique,” US Ambassador to Maputo Peter Vrooman said in a statement on Thursday, adding that this assistance will provide critical support to address the urgent needs of Mozambicans.