Social media unites to #PrayForMozambique as death toll rises
Some estimate that Cyclone Idai is the worst natural disaster to hit southern Africa in 20 years
Image: Zinyange AUNTONY / AFP
As the death toll rises in the aftermath of Cyclone Idai, South Africans have taken to social media to pray for those affected by the tragedy
According to the UN and several other foreign aid agencies, it is the worst natural disaster in the region in two decades, and the death toll could rise beyond 1,000.
Cyclone Idai battered Mozambique late last week, killing more than 240 people. It triggered floods that also ravaged eastern Zimbabwe and Malawi, leaving hundreds of thousands displaced in the region.
Mozambique’s minister of land and environment Celso Correia announced on Thursday that the death toll in that country had risen to 242.
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As power was restored to some areas affected by the cyclone, the cost of the disaster started to become clearer.
Social media has been filled with images of the devastation caused by Cyclone Idai and many took to Twitter to share their support and prayers for those affected.
They united under the hashtag #PrayForMozambique, which has trended at number one in the country.
The worst disaster in recent history saw flooding occur across Mozambique in February and March 2000. Approximately 700 people were killed, while thousands of hectares of arable land was destroyed.