The reconstruction of homes destroyed by cyclone Idai in 2019 in central Mozambique will start in the second half of this year, said an official source.
In this phase, reconstruction will cover about 15,000 homes that were destroyed in the districts of Buzi, Nhamatanda and Beira in Sofala, and will be funded by the World Bank, which has provided US$42 million (37 million euros), said the director of the Post Cyclone Reconstruction Office, Luis Paulo, during an event of the National Statistics Institute on Thursday in the city of Beira.
“The survey was completed in August 2021, and then the process of tabulation and data processing began to ensure that the 15,000 households corresponded to the most vulnerable in the four districts covered,” the source said.
Cecilia Chamutota, Deputy Minister of Public Works, Housing and Water Resources, stressed the importance of “resilient construction”, recalling that the country is cyclically affected by the impact of climate change.
“We want good practices and resilient construction techniques,” she stressed.
Mozambique is considered one of the most severely affected by climate change in the world, facing cyclical flooding and tropical cyclones.
The 2018/2019 rainy season was one of the most severe in memory in Mozambique: 714 people died, including 648 victims of two of the biggest cyclones (Idai and Kenneth) ever to hit the country.
Around 90% of the city of Beira, the provincial capital of Sofala, was destroyed by cyclone Idai in March 2019, which claimed 604 lives and more than 1.8 million people affected, according to official data.
Original story on Club of Mozambique