Mozambique City Struggles to Rebuild After Cyclone Idai

 

Almost a month has passed since Cyclone¹ Idai hit southeastern Africa. The storm left over 1,000 people dead and many others missing. It caused heavy damage in parts of Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi.

In the port of Beira, along Mozambique’s coast, life is still far from normal. Most businesses remain closed. Many people are struggling to recover from Cyclone Idai.

The cyclone destroyed the home of 39-year-old Maria Muchane. She told VOA that she is slowly rebuilding her life.

Muchane said she put old pieces of iron on top of her house so she could have a place to hide and keep out the rain. But, she says, when rainfall comes, the water comes in.

Muchane survived the storm’s strong winds. But she was nearly killed when electric wires and the pole that held them up collapsed². The wires and pole have yet to be fixed³.

Across Beira, many wires are still on the ground. They are a sign the city government is overwhelmed⁴ by Cyclone Idai.

The storm hit Mozambique in the middle of March, killing⁵ more than 800 people. It left hundreds of thousands homeless or displaced⁶. 

Some people are starting to rebuild, but those who need more money end up in accommodation centers.

Victoria Jone says she has nowhere else to go because the storm destroyed the house a religious group gave her.

More than 150,000 displaced persons from three neighboring areas around Beira are being sheltered in the city. Maria Joao fled from the town of Buzi. She and others say they are afraid of returning home because of the floods that killed their neighbors.

Maria Joao said that she has no plans to return, unless, maybe she gets a home on higher ground. She said the floodwaters were too much, and the floods could come back again next year.

While some businesses have reopened, many others remain closed. Goods left in storm damaged storage centers have to be moved to safer places.

Davis Simango is the mayor of Beira city. He told VOA that everyone there has a role to play in the rebuilding effort.

“We are going to rebuild the city. Your hands will also help to rebuild the city. So I think they will be useful to us. The most important thing as more people you have in the city more pressure you have in the infrastructures⁸. I am talking about public infrastructure⁷. So now we need to rebuild quickly (the) public infrastructure so that we can support the pressure we have right now.”

But in nearly a month since Cyclone Idai destroyed their world, survivors⁹ see no end in sight to the many problems caused by the storm.

I’m Jonathan Evans.

Words in This Story

accommodation – n. a room, group of rooms of building in which people may stay

infrastructure - n. the physical structures, such as roads and power supplies, needed for the operation of businesses or an area

1 cyclone   

n.旋风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• An exceptionally violent cyclone hit the town last night.昨晚异常猛烈的旋风吹袭了那个小镇。
• The cyclone brought misery to thousands of people.旋风给成千上万的人带来苦难。

2 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

3 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

4 overwhelmed   

[ overwhelm ]的过去式

参考例句：

• She was overwhelmed by feelings of guilt. 她感到愧疚难当。
• If (one was) overwhelmed by passion, it could lead to serious blunders. 当感情完全淹没理智时，就可能铸成大错。

5 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

6 displaced   

移动( displace的过去式和过去分词 )； 替换； 移走； 撤职

参考例句：

• Gradually factory workers have been displaced by machines. 工厂的工人已逐渐被机器取代。
• He was displaced by another young man. 他已被另一个年轻人顶替。

7 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

8 infrastructures   

n.基础设施( infrastructure的名词复数 )；基础结构；行政机构；秘密机构

参考例句：

• Public transportation termini and depots are important infrastructures for a city. 公交场站设施是城市重要的基础设施。 来自互联网
• The increasingly fast urbanization process requires more and more infrastructures. 我国城市化进程不断加快，对城市基础设施的需求也越来越大。 来自互联网

9 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者