Cyclone forced Tawab to flee

"There are floods every year but not like this. The rains are like nothing we have seen before"

Tawab

Photo: Photo: Tommy Trenchard/Oxfam

Worsening tropical storms are one of the consequences of global warming and Tawab says he has never experienced anything like it before.

"There are floods every year but not like this. The rains are like nothing we have seen before. Two walls and half the roof of our house are gone. Ever since the storm hit, my children have been sick," says Tawab.

Cyclone Kenneth affected hundreds of thousands of people who were already living in poverty. Mozambique is the sixth poorest country in the world and has very low carbon emissions, 55 times lower than the US. Cyclone Kenneth is a warning signal of how climate change can have deadly consequences for the people least responsible for it.

Tawab is now facing a difficult time and, like so many others, he worries about how to get back to his normal life.

"The winds were so strong. Trees fell over power lines and one hit the wall of our house. Most of the crops in our village were destroyed by the water. We are an agricultural community so we rely on those crops. There has been such enormous damage. It won't be easy to rebuild our house as it was before. Life is not easy for us now."