ReutersCyclone Chido has killed 94 people in Mozambique since it made landfall in the East African country last week, local authorities said.
The country's National Institute for Risk and Disaster Management (INGD) reported that 768 people were injured and more than 622,000 people were affected to some degree by the natural disaster.
Chido struck Mozambique on December 15 with winds of 260 km/h (160 mph) and 250 mm of rain in the first 24 hours.
The same cyclone first wreaked havoc in the French Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte before moving on to Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe.
In Mozambique, the storm hit the northern provinces, which are regularly battered by cyclones. It first reaches Cabo Delgado, then travels further inland to Niassa and Nampula.
The country's INGD said the cyclone has affected the education and health sectors. More than 109,793 students were affected, with school infrastructure severely damaged.
About 52 toilets were damaged, INGD said, further risking access to basic health services. This is further exacerbated in areas where access to health facilities was already limited before the cyclone.
Daniel Chapo, leader of Mozambique's ruling party, told local media that the government was mobilizing support at “all levels” in response to the cyclone.
Speaking during a visit to Cabo Delgado on Sunday, one of the worst affected areas, Chapo said the government was working together with INGD to ensure that those affected in Mekufi, Nampula, Memba and Niassa provinces could recover.
In Mayotte, Chido was the worst storm to hit the archipelago in 90 years, leaving tens of thousands of people reeling from the disaster.
The Ministry of Interior confirmed in its latest update that 35 people had died.
Mayotte's prefect earlier told local media that the death toll could rise significantly once the damage was fully assessed, warning that it would “definitely be a few hundred” and could reach thousands.
More than 1,300 personnel were deployed to support the local population.
One week later, many residents are still without basic necessities as running water gradually returns to the territory's capital. The ministry advised people to boil water for three minutes before consuming it.
About 100 tonnes of equipment are being delivered each day, the ministry said, while an airlift has been set up between Mayotte, Reunion and mainland France.
In a statement on Friday, Interior Minister Bruno Retaillo said 80 tonnes of food and 50 tonnes of water had been distributed in Mayotte that day.
Tropical cyclones are characterized by very high wind speeds, heavy rainfall and storm surges, which are short-term rises in sea level. This often causes widespread damage and flooding.
The cyclone, INGD said, “highlights once again the vulnerability of social infrastructures to climate change and the need for sustainable planning to mitigate future impacts”.
Assessing the precise impact of climate change on individual tropical cyclones can be challenging due to the complexity of these storm systems. But rising temperatures are affecting these storms in measurable ways.
This was said earlier by the UN Climate Body IPCC there is “high confidence” that humans have contributed to the increase in rainfall associated with tropical cyclones and “medium confidence” that humans have contributed to the increased likelihood of a tropical cyclone being more intense.