The National Institute for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (INGD) preliminarily estimates that more than 250,000 people may be in need of emergency humanitarian aid in the provinces affected by tropical cyclone Chido.

The phenomenon, which entered the mainland of Mozambique at level 4 from the districts of Memba in Nampula province and Mecúfi in Cabo Delgado, also affected Niassa province, but on a smaller scale.

In the city of Pemba alone, in Cabo Delgado province, around 150,000 people could be in an emergency situation. "It's almost a certainty".

"And the estimate of the entire population that suffered or felt the impact, we're talking about more than 860,000 people. But we could have between 200 and 250 thousand people in need of assistance," said Agostinho Vilanculos, from the National Directorate for the Management of Hydraulic Resources.

At the meeting held yesterday in the city of Nampula, the President of INGD said that the key now is to ensure that the affected families receive assistance.

"We have two centers, and the families in them must be assisted. The major sectors must guarantee sanitation, health, food and shelter," he said, stressing that the conditions are already in place to survey the real impact of the phenomenon.