Mozambique President says 1,000 May Have Died From Cyclone Idai

• 03.18.2019, 22:26
• Mania Israyelyan
•  Other,  World

The death toll in Mozambique from Cyclone Idai could reach 1,000, President Filipe Nyusi has said.

It made landfall close to the port city of Beira on Thursday with winds of up to 177 km/h (106 mph), but aid teams only reached the city on Sunday, BBC reports. 

The official death toll stands at 84 following flooding and high winds, which have destroyed homes and ripped roofs from concrete buildings.

The cyclone has killed at least 180 people across southern Africa.

Earlier, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Society (IFRC) described it as "massive and horrifying".

People have had to be rescued from trees, head of the IFRC assessment team, Jamie LeSeur, told the BBC.

In neighbouring Zimbabwe, 98 people have died and 217 people are missing in the east and south, the government says.