Cyclone Idai damage cost seen topping $2bn

Tropical Cyclone Idai, which caused deadly flooding in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi last month, will cost the southern African nations more than $2 billion to repair the damage, according to the World Bank.

The storm affected more than three million people in the region, the bank said in an emailed statement Friday. In Mozambique, the country where the cyclone made landfall and caused the most destruction, as much as $773 million in assets may have been destroyed, the lender said in a separate statement.

Read: Cyclone Idai shows why long-term disaster resilience is so crucial

Idai could reduce output in Mozambique by 2% t this year, the International Monetary Fund said Friday.

At least 600 people died in Mozambique after the storm struck the port city of Beira mid-March. Cholera has broken out in the surrounding areas, with more than 4 000 cases reported by the government.

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