OUR FIRST CYCLONE
We survived our first cyclone!
As some of you may know, in March cyclone Idai devastated Mozambique, with the eye hitting the coastal city of Beira, where there is a population of over half a million. The storm took down 90% of the city, flooded the surrounding areas and displaced over 900,000 children from their families. They are still responding to the damage, and our Iris relief teams were some of the first on the ground bringing aid.
We arrived back in Pemba, Mozambique on the 10th of March, promising concerned family we weren’t near the affected area. Little did we know a cyclone was brewing and coming to the north. Named, Kenneth, this new cyclone was said to be a category 4 (Idai was only 3) and less warning was given for those in the targeted path. We found out only 4 days before its arrival and as a team we were able to prepare for the worst. The eye of the storm hit further north of Pemba, crashing down on Ibo island, Macomia district and Mocimboa da Praia on Friday the 25th. We were still in the storms radar, and we were directed to exercise great caution, preparing bunkers in our houses with mattresses and tables in the case extreme conditions arose. The traditional African houses here are not made to withstand a category 2 cyclone let alone a level 4. Bamboo walls and mud huts with no foundations struggle to withstand our yearly rainy seasons, let alone a cyclone.
Our 60+ children were moved to higher ground, and our school was opened up to the public for refuge to those whose houses were unsafe or damaged. Close to 800 people flooded the classrooms just hours before Kenneth hit the coast including babies, mothers and children curled up on the grass mats as they road out the night here in Pemba. One of our friends brought to our home his sister and two other girls, one of which was 7 and with a high fever. They were tired and hungry, so we feed them and made up beds on our lounge room floor. We prayed, went to bed and woke only a few times throughout the night to hear the gusts of wind howling and crashing in the distance. Baby Gracie had no idea what was going on and slept soundly without any worries!
It was really a miracle, the next day when surveying the damage we were surprised. I looked out the window to see no high flooding but dry ground. There were a few buildings on our base which roofs flew off and some trees down but no one was hurt! After I visited the school to see how they were going I ventured into the villages with two Mozambican friends, while James was at home with Grace. Compared to Beira, which looked like a bomb had gone off on the whole city, we were so blessed. So many houses still standing and the main damage was fences down and roofs off. I did visit one home however that gripped my heart.
A young man and his family were hastily trying to save the remains of their half fallen down Africa brick home. Their roof flew off and the front walls went down. When finding out about their story, the bricks had blown down, landing on a mother and her nursing baby. Being a mother and having a young daughter caused me to freeze, chills went down my spine and I struggled to hold back tears. I didn’t know how to respond. What to say. My translators went on to say they were still in the hospital. I went back to this house a week later and meet the mother and baby. They were on the mend and looking very well considering what had happened. We gave them a large bag of rice and shared with them the Gospel. It was such a relief to see them back together as a family and the baby doing so well.
The day after the cyclone brought high flash floods, and many more homes and lives were hit hard. We were lucky to have four trained Brazilian teams staying with us over the last few months since the cyclone. They helped in so many ways and were true heroes. James also was involved in relief distributions, including being away for 10 days on an island reaching the shorelines that were hit directly by Kenneth. But they are stories for another post….
Bellow are images from Pemba the day after the cyclone, and two video updates we made that went out on social media. We haven’t had an opportunity to update our blog so we will try and upload more images and videos from the last few months.
Blessings!
The Brewers
