Cyclone Freddy: Maria's Journey To Safety

Beira, 14 March 2023 – “It is really heartbreaking to be living this nightmare again.” Maria Luis has spent the past few years rebuilding her life after devastating Cyclone Idai hit Beira, Sofala province in central Mozambique in 2019. Today she is seeking shelter in the same school that four years ago served as a safe haven during Idai, this time due to the heavy rains and floods as a result of Tropical Cyclone Freddy.

Maria, like thousands of families in central and southern Mozambique, was sleeping with her three small children when the heavy rain that came with Freddy’s first impact on February 24, started to flood her home. Terrified by winds that threatened to blow the roof of the house away at any moment, she decided she had to find a safer place for her family. It was a dangerous journey while they walked over an hour through the thunderstorm, finally reaching the temporary Accommodation Centre set up in Muthemba Secondary School.

"I couldn't believe that the cyclone was taking my life away again. I walked on and on with my three children in the rain, until we finally reached the centre” recalls Maria. “We were the first family to arrive, but before long we were joined by hundreds, including elderly people, pregnant women, and mothers with babies, like me.” 

Maria wants nothing more than to return home with her family, but the flooding has been persistent with saturated soils and the second landfall of Freddy still giving much uncertainty at the time of the interview: "It is really difficult to be away from home, living in a temporary accommodation centre, but I have to protect my children and for the moment staying here is the safest thing to do.”

Despite the difficulties, Maria is grateful to have a safe roof over her family's heads. In addition, at the Accommodation Centre, she has received awareness raising on Protection of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) and good hygiene promotion awareness and has learned that she has the Complaint and Feedback Mechanism (CFM) available providing access to information, possibility to register complaints, give feedback and enhance transparency. 

“In these difficult times when those of us affected are most vulnerable, this information is crucial. It makes us feel safer and supported. This really gives us strength.”

IOM Mozambique’s teams are closely working with the Government of Mozambique and humanitarian partners to monitor, assess and support the Cyclone Freddy response. Thanks to USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, IOM will upscale the response in coming weeks to help families like Maria’s with emergency shelters and tools to fix their homes, in support of IOM’s Emergency Shelter and Non-Food Items (NFI) Pipeline.

This story was written by Maria Toro and Cesaltino Vilanculo, part of IOM Mozambique.