Mozambique's cyclone-battered city of Beira submerged by rains

The city of Beira in Mozambique’s north has been submerged after heavy rains battered the place, the office of the Mayor said in a social media post on Thursday, December 5.

The message accompanied with photos of the floods said large parts of Beira had been adversely affected by the rains. It said the situation had hit “at a time when the population seeks to rise after Cyclone Idai.”

The Beira Municipal Council, added that it had okayed the opening of some canals to allow for water to run into the sea. It blamed the flooding largely on the irresponsible disposal of waste by residents.

A journalist and rights activist, Zenaida Machado, wrote on Twitter that the city continues to experience extreme temperatures in the last few days.

“Note… on Tuesday, thermometers in almost every Mozambican province, reached 40 degrees C. On Wednesday and Thursday it was bellow 20 in some places. No week passes without a heat wave or heavy rains. Heat waves used to be a thing of “once in a while,” she wrote in a tweet.

Beira – gained international attention being the city most affected by Cyclone Idai. Beira back in March 2019 was was effectively cut off from the rest of the world and the country when the Cyclone arrived.

It is simply: A port city in eastern Mozambique on the Mozambique Channel. The Channel in question is an arm of the Indian Ocean between Madagascar and southeastern Africa.

Here are 10 key points about the barred, beaten and battered Beira:

1 – It is Mozambique’s fourth largest city coming behind Matola, Maputo City and Nampula.
2 – It is capital of the Sofala Province with an estimated population of 533,800 (2017 census).
3 – It is home to Port of Beira – a gateway for trade into the country as well as for land-locked Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi.
4 – The city is situated at a point of convergence of the Buzi and Pungwe Rivers – two major water bodies of Mozambique.
5 – According to international Red Cross, 90% of Beira was destroyed by Cyclone Idai.
6 – The city was established in 1890 by the Portuguese. Its was originally called Chiveve – named after a local river.
7 – The name Beira was after the Portuguese Crown Prince Dom Luis Filipe who carried the title Prince of Beira. The renaming happened after the prince became the first royal to visit Mozambique in 1907.
8 – The city was one of the worst-hit during the civil war of 1977 – 1992, at a point a famous hotel housed an estimated 1,000 locals.
9 – The last major natural disaster that hit Beira was in 2000. Floods in and around the city left millions homeless.
10 – Some of its tourists hotspots include the following: Old Portuguese residencies, the Cathedral, Lighthouse, Macuti Beach, the port, small Venice and the Savanna Beach.

Others are: Natural habitats the Forest in Inhangau, Praia Nova, Mira mar, the mangrove forests and walkways, the ruins of hotels, such as the Grande Hotel da Beira, Estoril, Don Carlos, among others.

The local economy is also boosted by way of restaurants, cafes, bars or hotels and resorts that serve tourists who visit the area.