Where Villages Once Stood, Africa Now Has an Inland Ocean

 

Flooding remains¹ a serious problem in Southern Africa more than a week after Cyclone² Idai hit the area.

Idai is one of the most destructive natural disasters in the area’s history. The storm left hundreds of people dead and extensive damage in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi.

Floodwaters are moving across central Mozambique. Many homes, some towns and villages are still underwater. The water has created an inland sea -- more than 2,500 kilometers wide -- in an area where there used to be farms and villages.

Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi estimated that the cyclone may have left as many as 1,000 people dead nationwide. There are fears the death toll³ could jump sharply when rescuers reach the countryside.

Heavy rainfall stopped Thursday, and floodwaters began to subside⁴ in the port of Beira and in the countryside, the Mozambican government said. Aid groups were working without rest to rescue families holding onto trees or standing⁵ on building tops to escape the water.

On Thursday, “910 people were rescued by the humanitarian⁶ community,” said Caroline Haga of the International Federation⁷ of the Red Cross in Beira. She spoke⁸ to The Associated Press.

Aid organizations are trying to get food, clean water and clothing to the areas hardest hit by the storm. They estimate more than 400,000 people across Mozambique are now homeless.

The country’s environment minister, Celso Correia, said the government plans to build two large camps to house people who have lost their homes.

Gerald Bourke is the United Nations’ World Food Program. He said it was unclear how the government would get people to those camps. “There’s talk of using…helicopters and boats.

It will be days before the water in Mozambique drains toward the Indian Ocean. It will be longer before officials fully⁹ understand the level of destruction.

In neighboring Malawi, at least 56 people are confirmed dead and more than 900,000 are homeless.

The search for survivors¹⁰ is finished.

Zimbabwe’s eastern mountains also were hit with heavy rain.

Aid has been slow to reach affected¹¹ villagers because many roads and bridges were destroyed.

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa visited affected areas on Wednesday. Government officials have said that as many as 350 people may have died in the flooding. The force of the water pulled some victims from Zimbabwe down the mountainside into Mozambique, officials said.

In one area, the district of Chimanimani, 90 percent of homes and property suffered major damage, the World Food Program said. It estimated that 200,000 people would need food assistance over the next three months.

Philemon Dada has been rebuilding his life in Chimanimani, once a beautiful town.

With a few tools, he began pulling long sticks from the water to build a shelter for his family. He believes it will be difficult to rebuild his life after Cycone Idai. He lost everything – his home and his animals.

Some people are living with neighbors and others with their religious leaders.

“I can say I am a bit lucky, my wife and son are still here with me but for everything else, I have to start (over),” he said.

“It may take a year, maybe even more years just to get back on my feet,” he added.

I'm Susan Shand.

Words in this Story

cyclone – n. an extremely large, powerful storm with high winds

toll – n. the number of deaths or injuries resulting from an event, such as a natural disaster or war

subside – v. to go down to a lower level

drain – v. to flow into, away from, or out of something

district – n. a part of a city or country

1 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

2 cyclone   

n.旋风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• An exceptionally violent cyclone hit the town last night.昨晚异常猛烈的旋风吹袭了那个小镇。
• The cyclone brought misery to thousands of people.旋风给成千上万的人带来苦难。

3 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

4 subside   

vi.平静，平息；下沉，塌陷，沉降

参考例句：

• The emotional reaction which results from a serious accident takes time to subside.严重事故所引起的情绪化的反应需要时间来平息。
• The controversies surrounding population growth are unlikely to subside soon.围绕着人口增长问题的争论看来不会很快平息。

5 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

6 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

7 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

8 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

9 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

10 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

11 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。