In early March a storm cell brought heavy rains to Zimbabwe and Malawi before heading out to sea off the coast of Mozambique and intensifying into Cyclone Idai. In the early hours of the morning on 14 March, Idai returned to land reaping havoc in the city of Beira, home to some 500,000 people, as well as in the surrounding districts home to hundreds of thousands more.

The town of Buzi, 10 minutes flight time from Beira but for now impossible to reach via road, was particularly heavily hit by flooding with many residents forced to take “refuge” on roofs or in trees in order to avoid being swept away by the flood waters.

On 25 of March an MSF emergency team of medics and logisticians was finally able to reach the town by helicopter in order to make an assessment of the needs. The town remains cut off in terms of road access and whilst the government and some overseas rescue organisations have been assisting since the cyclone hit there are many unmet needs in terms of food, shelter and medical assistance.

The town has no electricity and the community no access to clean water with virtually all homes damaged or destroyed. The only referral health centre in Buzi, which serves not only Buzi town but the entire district of Buzi has been completely flooded and is severely damaged.

In the coming days, as more staff and more supplies arrive in Mozambique, an MSF team will be deployed to Buzi to work alongside Ministry of Health staff to help get the health centre back up and running.