Queen backs appeal for cyclone disaster
THE Queen sent a message of support as a massive aid appeal was launched yesterday to save the millions hit by Cyclone Idai.
Whole villages have been swamped by floodwaters in what could become the worst weather disaster ever to hit the southern hemisphere.
Aid agencies, struggling with only four helicopters at one stage, fear the death toll could be in the tens of thousands but they have yet to reach swathes of Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
Yesterday they launched an appeal to send food, fresh water and tents to the region where some 2.6million people are estimated to have lost homes, farms and families.
The British Government is offering to match every pound donated, up to £2million. The Queen, who made a private donation, sent her sympathies to the presidents of the three Commonwealth countries.
She said: ‘Our thoughts are with those who have lost loved ones and those who are in need of food, water, medical care and shelter.’
Cyclone Idai smashed into the Mozambique coast a week ago at 105mph and left a trail of destruction as it swept inland.
Villages and farms have been submerged in floodwaters so deep that buildings and trees are invisible from the air in some places. Houses, roads and bridges have been ripped apart.
Some 835 square miles are flooded. So far about 300 people are confirmed dead but the toll has been estimated at more than 1,000 and it is feared tens of thousands may have died.
The scale of the disaster is still unfolding as rescue operations ramp up. But more torrential rain is forecast and the UN has predicted it may become one of the worst weather disasters on record in the southern hemisphere.
The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), an umbrella group of 14 charities, is co-ordinating the appeal. Save the Children has so far delivered 51 tons of aid to Mozambique. A cargo plane carrying 8,400 tarpaulins, 3,500 jerry cans, 2,500 buckets and 20 tents arrived on Tuesday night.
Machiel Pouw, of Save The Children, said: ‘A family saw their brick house swept away. When they went to another house for safety, the roof collapsed. There are tens of thousands of heartbreaking stories like this.’
Some 15,000 people still need to be rescued, Mozambique officials said, as they continued to help 1,000 more a day.
In the port city of Beira, home to 600,000 people, aid workers say there are only two to three days of clean water left.
The DEC said: ‘Every pound donated by the UK public will be matched by the UK Government through its Aid Match scheme up to the value of £2million.’