大象传媒

The death toll in neighbours Malawi and Mozambique from Tropical Storm/Cyclone Freddy has exceeded 300, though the former suffered a higher portion of fatalities from the devastating weather system which twice hit the region with heavy rain and strong winds.

Mozambique has attempted to overhaul the way it prepares for storms and natural disasters. Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Celso Correia, told Newsday his country has been working hard to put mitigation strategies in place in order to try to reduce the death toll, which appear to have helped during the passage of Freddy.

鈥淚n the past years we have seen more intense cyclones and this year we鈥檙e seeing this phenomenon of having a cyclone that keeps coming back. We鈥檙e trying to implement a paradigm shift here, in the way that we deal with families. It takes three minutes to destroy what they have. We need funds for development not just [emergency] aid.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 important to remember Mozambique is doing its part in terms of mitigation鈥� we already have a matrix of clean energy... although we have large quantities of coal. So it鈥檚 important that all the funds announced for adaptation come through otherwise we will be the ones exposed to extreme weather events and all of the aid will come through only for emergencies.鈥�

(Pic: People walk on a road flooded by the River Bilila, Maputo, Mozambique caused by Storm Freddy; Credit: EPA)

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