CATASTROPHIC

Mozambique’s President: Cyclone Death Toll May Top 1,000

Worst to hit southeastern Africa coast in more than 20 years.

The death toll from the worst cyclone to hit the southeast coast of Africa in more than 20 years may top 1,000 people across Mozambique, Malawi, and Zimbabwe, Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi said Monday. Though the confirmed death toll is only 84 in Mozambique, the number of missing people means that officials could “register more than 1,000” deaths, with an additional 100,000 people at risk, Nyusi said. “The waters of the Pungue and Buzi rivers overflowed, making whole villages disappear and isolating communities, and bodies are floating,” said Nyusi. “It is a real disaster of great proportions.” The International Red Cross has said that 90 percent of Beira, a city with a population of 500,000, has been damaged or destroyed.