CHURCHES and aid agencies in Malawi and Mozambique are responding to the devastation wreaked by Cyclone Freddy, which hit Southern Africa on Sunday. One of the most powerful and long-lasting on record, it has claimed an estimated 200 lives and displaced thousands of people.

Whole neighbourhoods have been washed away in Malawi, which was already struggling to cope with the worst cholera outbreak in its history. News reports on Tuesday described rescue workers as wholly overwhelmed, and the President of Malawi, Lazarus Chakwera, has declared a state of disaster in the southern region.

“Those affected have lost their food supplies. Houses have collapsed, and kitchen utensils and cooking pots have been washed away in the floodwater,” Tearfund’s country director for Malawi, Vincent Mayo, said.

“The churches have started responding by providing shelter and food to those whose houses have been destroyed. The Church is also providing psychosocial support to the bereaved as they bury the dead.” Partners were already working with internally displaced people, he said, and responding with cash transfers for the most vulnerable to buy what they needed to withstand the emergency.

UNICEF Mozambique is urgently mobilising critical supplies to Quelimane, including water purification supplies, hygiene kits, disinfectant, medical supplies, medicines, and tents. Mozambique suffered an earthquake four years ago that affected 2.5 million people — about half of them children — and is emphasising the need for urgent support.

Amnesty International has called on the international community to mobilise resources and boost aid and rescue efforts in the two countries, amid reports that rescuers lack adequate equipment to deal with the extensive flooding. Most of the houses in the area are built with mud bricks, making them easily susceptible to damage under harsh weather.

The Bishop of London, the Rt Revd Sarah Mullaly, urged congregations on Sunday to pray for its partner dioceses in the region: 44 parishes and six schools are formally twinned with parishes in Angola and Mozambique, through the Angola London Mozambique partnership (ALMA), a covenant which was renewed at the Lambeth Conference last summer.

Images have come via ALMA from one of the partner priests, Padre Samuel Manhaka, whose rectory has been wrecked by the mudslides.

Cyclone Freddy is reported to have recorded more energy over its existence than an entire typical US hurricane season. Tearfund’s country director for Mozambique, Edgar Jone, said, “Although cyclones are to be expected at this time of year, our experience is that they are becoming much more intense and dangerous as a result of climate change.

“Being prepared with plans for evacuation and emergency relief is essential to save lives.”