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Cyclone forced Tawab to flee

20 June 2019
"There are floods every year but not like this one. The rains are unlike anything we've seen before."

Tawab

Tawab carries his son on a bicycle through an ankle-high stream.

Photo: Photo: Tommy Trenchard/Oxfam

Tawab and his son Calado are struggling to get through the floods following Cyclone Kenneth, which hit Mozambique on April 25 this year. The massive waters isolated entire communities, washed away residential houses and roads, and destroyed farmland, schools and hospitals.

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

"There are floods every year but not like this one. 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 many others, he is worried 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 crops in our village were destroyed by the water. We are an agricultural community so we rely on those crops. There has been so much damage. It will not be easy to rebuild our house as it was before. Life is not easy for us now."