Ireland is to provide €400,000 for the relief effort in south-west Africa following Cyclone Idai.
The Irish embassy in Mozambique has said this will help people meet basic needs, while assessing best ways to support current efforts.
Ireland will provide €400,000 for relief effort to help people meet basic needs while assessing best ways to support current efforts in coordination with Mozambique’s Gov, UN agencies & development partners #CycloneIdai #MozambiqueFloods2019 #Working4IRL @Irish_Aid @dfatirl https://t.co/ijsSV6xE1S
— Ireland in Mozambique (@IrlEmbMaputo) March 20, 2019
It has been suggested this could be one of the worst weather-related disasters in the Southern hemisphere.
The storm made landfall in Mozambique on Thursday night, where at least 1,000 people are feared dead alone.
More than 200 people have been confirmed dead in Mozambique, over 100 in Zimbabwe and around 60 in Malawi.
The United Nations has said hundreds more are injured and many more unaccounted for.
Roads, bridges and crops have been washed away.
Although floodwaters have reportedly begun to recede in Zimbabwe and Malawi, allowing some people to return home, the World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that Mozambique is facing "a major humanitarian emergency that is getting bigger by the hour".
An estimated 1.7 million people were in the path of the cyclone in Mozambique, WFP spokesperson Herve Verhoosel said, in addition to the 920,000 people affected in Malawi and "thousands more" impacted in Zimbabwe.
In Malawi, the UN agency plans to target 650,000 people with food assistance.
UN children's fund UNICEF confirmed the scale of the emergency, noting that 260,000 children have been affected in Mozambique, which bore the brunt of Idai.
The UN's Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) allocated US$20m (€17.5m) on Wednesday.
The head of the UN's migration agency (IOM) in Mozambique is Katharina Schnoering: "The situation is very bad.
"The damage is quite serious. It Is very difficult to get a clear overview of what is going on.
"There are many communications issues, there's no power in Beira. There is no road access because the Buzi River came up and washed out the road."
Aid has started to arrive in Beira, Mozambique, providing assistance to rescued people from Bozi | Image: WFP/Hugo du PlessisThe IFRC and Mozambique Red Cross have launched a 10 million Swiss franc (€8.81m) emergency appeal to support about 75,000 of the worst-affected people in central Mozambique.
Several other charities have also activated emergency plans to cope with the disaster.
Oxfam and partners have said they are scaling up their response to "urgently reach" hundreds of thousands of people.
Teams are assessing the needs of people who have been reaching internally displaced persons camps by land via boats.
The international agency has said it will be prioritising shelter and sanitation in response to the large-scale evacuation.
With an estimated 2.6 million people affected across the region, Oxfam is aiming to reach 775,000 people across the three countries.
It is looking to help 525,000 people in Mozambique, 200,000 in Malawi and 50,000 in Zimbabwe.
People can donate to Oxfam Ireland's Cyclone Idai appeal here
While Trócaire has launched an emergency response.
Trócaire CEO Caoimhe de Barra said: "People in the region were waiting for rain so as their crops could grow, but what hit them was a cyclone that has destroyed everything in its wake.
"Trócaire is working with local partners in badly affected areas. We will be providing emergency relief to families who have lost their homes and crops.
"The long-term implications of this cyclone are enormous. People in the region could be left facing months of hunger as a result of the loss of crops."
