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The great helicopter show is over
By Morten Gliemann, Development Worker for MSThe cyclone "Hudah" hit the shores of Mozambique at the beginning of April, and caused serious material damage in the Northern provinces of the country. Hundreds of fragile straw houses in Zambezi were destroyed by the heavy winds, and fields in Nampula were damaged.
The force of the wind and the amounts of rainwater in 'Hudah' were not as huge as people had feared and she lost force fairly quickly. All the same, it is anticipated that 50,000 people in the Moma province in Nampula will starve because storm and rain have destroyed the crops.
In the capital Maputo the reconstruction of roads and pavement progresses quickly and the schools also function normally. The traffic to and from the centre and the suburbs is no longer made impossible by flooded and damaged roads. But thousands of people who were moved out of the city after their houses had been destroyed by the pouring rain in February, still wait for a new place to live and new farmland to cultivate. Something must be done because people are getting tired of living in tents where they are packed like sardines in a tin, and the next sowing time is approaching.
There is still a chance to grow something but this depends on a rapid distribution of plots, seed grain and tools. This has to be done urgently: in order to prevent the country from becoming even more dependent upon emergency aid.
In the country several hundred thousand people still wait in the camps "centros de acomadacao" that were set up in February after people fled from the huge volumes of water especially in the Limpopo valley in the Gaza province. The cities Chokwé, Xai-Xai and Chibuto were flooded surprisingly fast. Today almost 80,000 people live in the camp Chihaquelane outside Chokwé with their livestock and very few possessions packed together under appalling conditions. The impending danger of new floods, epidemic cholera and maleria seem to have passed. As they say in Maputo airport: The great helicopter show is over….
