THE effects of the harrowing Cyclone Idai will forever be
etched in the memories of traumatised villagers in Chimanimani and Chipinge
districts while the devastating impact on the environment and infrastructure is
testimony to the brute force of the natural phenomenon.
More than 100 people were killed, many displaced or
marooned while hundreds more are still missing in the aftermath of the cyclone
that came with its gusty winds and heavy continuous down pour.
The whereabouts of some of the victims still remain unknown
after they were either buried in the mud during the ensuing landslides or were
swept down the flooded rivers.
Survivors are in grief and their accounts unravel the sheer
destructive character of some of nature’s weather trends.
The Manica Post interviewed some of the survivors who gave
an account of what befell them.
Mrs Grace Satiya (59) of Ward 16 in Chimanimani said she
first heard an unusual sound which she believed was an earthquake.
She lost her child, Agreement Mungana and uncle, Laison
Mungana, in the cyclone.
“In a flash I heard the sounds of water flowing from the
mountains down into Nyapana River,” she said.
“I then raised alarm in a bid to alert other people who
were in the house. At that moment my uncle moved out from one of the huts in a
bid to save my child who was asleep in another hut. Unfortunately, he was swept
away before he even reached the other hut where my child was. The huts
collapsed. My child and uncle were then swept away,” she said.
Mrs Satiya said after a while she then began searching for
her child and uncle along the banks of Nyapana River.
During the search they spotted one of the gumboots which
Laison was wearing, trapped between stones.
“We later found him buried between boulders and sand. Up to
now we have not yet found my child. We have exhausted all our efforts and
chances of finding him are now next to none,” she said.
Mr Edison Hurukayi (71) of Sabumba Village, said he was
left with nothing after the cyclone.
He said he lost his daughter and son in-law together with
their three children after their house was swept away in Copper, Rusitu on
Friday night.
“This is the most painful period of my life. I do not know
how to explain this to you. I lost everything. I mean everything. As we speak
my daughter, Jane Hurukayi, her husband Francis Mapungwana and their three
children Tinotenda, Tavongwa and Mazvita are missing. They were swept away at
their home in Copper, Rusitu on Friday,” he said.
Mr Hurukayi said his daughter was a teacher at Dzingire
Primary School while her husband was also a teacher at Nyabamba Secondary
School.
Their children were doing grade one, three and six in the
same neighbourhood.
“Two of their children survived only because one is doing
Form Two at Biriiri High School and the other one was in Mutare. The one who is
at boarding school is not aware that his parents and other siblings were swept
and are missing,” he said.
Mr Hurukayi said he was also left homeless after his houses
were destroyed by the cyclone in Sabumba village.
“We do not have a place to stay as our houses were also
destroyed by cyclone. All my cattle and other domestic animals were either
swept away or they were displaced, no one knows,” he said.
Mr Hurukayi believes his daughter’s family could have been
swept into Mozambique as they were staying close to where Haroni and Rusitu
rivers meet.
“But our hopes of finding their bodies have already faded
away,” he said.
Gogo Violet Nyamadzawo (73) who lives near St Charles
Lwanga Secondary School, could hardly hold back her tears as she gave an
account of how she walked to safety.
She said she had to endure the mountainous terrain to earn
her safety.
“Considering my age, I had to walk for nearly nine hours to
get to a safer place. I was lucky to be alive but as we speak some of my
relatives were adversely affected by the cyclone. I do not know how to
reconcile the events that unfolded but all is gone. I am told that their bodies
were found in Mozambique where a certain chief is said to have buried them. It
means we will not be able to identify them,” she said.
Mr John Murandu (36) of Ngangu is yet to come to terms with
how he survived.
He said he was not aware of the whereabouts of his fellow
tenants after being displaced by the cyclone.
“It is all by God’s grace that I am still alive today
following this disaster. We first heard a loud sound and within a moment water
started entering into our house.
“We then went outside and we discovered that some of the
houses had actually collapsed. I think the noise was coming from the collapsing
houses,” he said.
Mr Murandu said after some moments he found himself between
an avalanche of stones, trees and other things which were being carried by the
strong winds and heavy down pour.
“I do not know where others went. During that time, I
started walking towards the tarred road where I met other people whom I joined.
We walked along the road but we never went far away. The winds later subside
but the rains continued,” he said. Manica Post
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