Cyclone’s death toll into the hundreds in southern Africa

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Rapidly rising floodwaters have created “an inland ocean” in Mozambique endangering scores of thousands of families, as aid organizations scramble to rescue and provide food to survivors of Cyclone Idai.

Mozambique’s swollen rivers have already flooded huge expanses of the country and continued rains are causing the waters to rise, endangering people on rooftops and clinging to treetops, said emergency workers.

“This is a major humanitarian emergency that is getting bigger by the hour,” said Herve Verhoosel of the World Food Program on Tuesday. He said large numbers of people are “crammed on rooftops and elevated patches of land outside the port city of Beira” and WFP is rescuing as many as possible and providing airdrops of food, water and blankets.

Mozambique’s Pungue and Buzi rivers have overflowed, creating “inland oceans extending for miles and miles in all directions,” said Verhoosel.

“People visible from the air may be the lucky ones, and the top priority now is to rescue as many as possible and ferry them to safety,” he said.

Four tons of high-energy biscuits are being air dropped Monday as part of 20 tons of food that WFP will distribute.

Cyclone Idai created massive damage as it swept across central Mozambique before dropping huge amounts of rain in Zimbabwe’s eastern mountains. That rainfall is now rushing back through Mozambique further inundating the already flooded countryside.

“It’s dire,” Caroline Haga of the Red Cross told The Associated Press from Beira. “We did an aerial surveillance yesterday and saw people on rooftops and in tree branches. The waters are still rising and we are desperately trying to save as many as possible.”

Satellite images are helping the rescue teams to target the most critical areas, said Haga.

“We’re in a very scary situation,” she said. Rescue operations are based at Beira airport, which is one of the few places in the city that has communications.