Cyclone Idai hit the port city of Beira, Mozambique, with 100 mph winds on March 14, destroying buildings and dumping torrential rains that flooded an area of 1,200 square miles. About 200,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed. The storm also devastated farmers in the midst of harvest season, harming up to 1 million acres of crops and threatening food supplies. The local Ministry of Health has declared a cholera outbreak as thousands of cases are developing. More than 500 lost their lives in the storm and 500,000 were displaced.
Maria receives tarpaulin from Samaritan’s Purse after losing her roof to Cyclone Idai.
Samaritan’s Purse DC-8 aircraft has made three trips from Greensboro, North Carolina, to Mozambique carrying a total of over 70 tons of supplies for cyclone relief. This included shelter materials, blankets, solar lights, an Emergency Field Hospital, and equipment to produce clean water. Our Africa-based DC-3 aircraft also participated in the response and has moved more than 40 tons of supplies to difficult-to-access areas.
In cooperation with Mozambique’s Ministry of Health, Samaritan’s Purse has set up its Emergency Field Hospital in Buzi. An international team of 44 disaster response specialists is there serving the cyclone victims. Part of this group—our water, sanitation, and hygiene teams—are pumping contaminated water out of wells to fight the threat of cholera.
“We trust God.We will start again.”—LydiaLydia, her husband, and their two children aged 7 and 23 months lost their roof to Cyclone Idai. They were among the first families to receive heavy-duty shelter plastic from Samaritan’s Purse.
“We trust God. We will start again,” Lydia said. “All things are broken, but we will start fixing them.”
Lydia looks up to where her roof used to be, but is thankful to God for helping her start again.
Maria also received a tarp from our international disaster relief team after losing her roof to the storm. “I am so thankful for Samaritan’s Purse coming here to help,” she said. “We pray the Lord will help you with all that you are doing from Mozambique and Beira.”
Working together with local churches, Samaritan’s Purse has distributed more than 8,300 tarps and treated over 950 medical patients. In addition, we have handed out over 700 water filtration systems and rehabilitated more than 75 water supply points.
Please pray for the people of Mozambique as they recover from this tragedy and for Samaritan’s Purse teams as we serve them in Jesus’ Name.
You can also make a donation by mail. Send to: Samaritan’s Purse, PO Box 3000, Boone, NC 28607