Cyclone Idai has ravaged parts of Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe in what the UN says could be the worst weather-related disaster ever to hit the southern hemisphere. Entire cities have been destroyed. Millions of people were in the direct path of the cyclone.

The total death toll is currently 180 but Mozambique’s president, Filipe Nyusi, fears it could reach thousands.

With hundreds missing, people are searching through the rubble for their loved ones.

In Zimbabwe (below) those who have died are carried in wooden coffins by barefoot family members along a makeshift path on the River Ngangu.

Relatives cleared space for a mass burial site.

On the the Umvumvu River, locals watch in disbelief at the empty space where a bridge stood just days before.

In the port city of Beira in Mozambique, a UN World Food Programme worker described the damage: “There is no power. There is no telecommunications. The streets are littered with fallen electricity lines.”

With every building in the city damaged in some way, people are left unsheltered against the brutal weather conditions.

Some homes were stripped bare as walls and roofs were destroyed by the extreme winds and rain.

The road between Beira and Chimoio has been damaged, leaving aid agencies cut off, unable to deliver supplies.

In southern Malawi, there was some respite as boys took the opportunity to swim in a river created by flash floods.

Meanwhile, students at St Charles Luanga school in Zimbabwe had to be rescued by the military. They navigated their way through a mudslide that had covered a major road, blocking their way out of the school.

People who have had their entire livelihoods destroyed await handouts from aid agencies, many of which took days to reach areas cut off due to inaccessible roads.

Aerial photos show the far-reaching extent of the flooding, destroying crops, homes and lives.

All photos copyright.

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