— It is a few minutes past 9pm on Saturday. Beira is a ghost town, a shadow of its former self. The streets are deserted and darkened; some are blocked by fallen trees.On Avenida Eduardo Mondlane, which leads on to the elegant colonial-era palace of the provincial governor, one building is brightly-lit, with dozens of luxury cars parked outside. The hum of generators disturbs the still night.
A child walks past debris as flood waters begin to recede in the aftermath of Cyclone Idai, in Buzi near Beira, Mozambique. The rice comes from a nearby rice warehouse, which was stripped bare the day before by hundreds of desperately hungry people looking for sustenance wherever they can find it. Some of the bags fell apart in the scramble, their contents falling into the water.
One of them is 31-year-old Dikson Mafigo. “I know that rice can create disease, but I have to choose between starvation or dying of disease after eating,” he said.