Cyclone Death Toll Above 750           03/24 10:46

   BEIRA, Mozambique (AP) -- Cyclone Idai's death toll has risen above 750 in 
the three southern African countries hit 10 days ago by the storm, as workers 
restore electricity, water and try to prevent outbreak of cholera, authorities 
said Sunday.

   In Mozambique the number of dead has risen to 446 while there are 259 dead 
in Zimbabwe and at least 56 dead in Malawi for a three-nation total of 761.

   All numbers for deaths are still preliminary, warned Mozambique's 
Environment Minister Celso Correia. As flood waters recede and more bodies are 
discovered, the final death toll in Mozambique alone could be above the early 
estimate of 1,000 made by the country's president a few days after the cyclone 
hit, said aid workers.

   Nearly 110,000 people are now in camps more than a week after Cyclone Idai 
hit, said Correia, the government's emergency coordinator. As efforts to rescue 
people trapped by the floods wind down, aid workers across the vast region are 
bracing for the spread of disease.

   "We'll have cholera for sure," Correia said at a press briefing, saying a 
center to respond to cholera has been set up in Beira though no cases have yet 
been confirmed.

   Beira is working to return basic services, he said. Electricity has been 
restored to water pumping and treatment stations by the government water 
agency, so Beira and the nearby city of Dondo are getting clean water, he said. 
Electricity has been restored to part of Beira and the port and railway line 
have re-opened, he said.

   Repairs and bypasses are being built to the main road, EN6, which links 
Beira to the rest of Mozambique and the road should open Monday, said Correia. 
The restored road connection will allow larger deliveries of food, medicines 
and other essential supplies to be to be brought to Beira and to flooded areas 
like Nhamatanda, west of the city.

   "People are already going," the environment minister said of the newly 
accessible road.

   Malaria is another looming health problem that the minister said was 
"unavoidable" because large expanses of standing water encourage the spread of 
malaria-carrying mosquitoes.

   Asked about his country's current corruption scandal and whether the 
diversion of money has hurt the rescue efforts, Correia bristled, saying the 
government's focus now is on saving lives.

   "We are doing everything to fight corruption," he said. "It's systematic, up 
to the top," he said of the anti-graft drive.

   Two large field hospitals and water purification systems were on the way, 
joining a wide-ranging effort that includes drones to scout out areas in need 
across the landscape of central Mozambique, said Sebastian Rhodes Stampa, 
deputy director of the U.N. Humanitarian operation.

   The scale of the devastation is "extraordinary" not only because of the 
cyclone and flooding but because the land had already had been saturated by 
earlier rains, he said.

   A huge number of aid assets are now in Mozambique, Stampa said: "No 
government in the world can respond alone in these circumstances."


(KA)