Cyclone Idai is the strongest hitting Mozambique since 2000. Due to its impact, the national electricity grid is not operational and the telecommunication networks are severely damaged. Communications to and from Beira have been very limited. TSF has been among the first humanitarian organisations reaching the city on Sunday morning. A few hours later, our team installed the first satellite connection for the humanitarian coordination centre set up at the airport.
Thanks to the rapidity of TSF’s intervention, the humanitarian actors have been able to communicate on the humanitarian needs from the affected area for the first time after the disaster. TSF’s connection also allowed the videos showing the first images of the devastating situation in the city to go viral online. From the airport area, some beneficiaries have also been able to make the first calls to contact their relatives.
TSF is closely collaborating with the local mobile operators in order to focus its intervention on the most isolated areas. Our team aims also at conducting mobile telephony and itinerant Wi-Fi operations for the local population in these areas.
Thanks to TSF, humanitarian actors benefit from the first connection in Beira
On Sunday 17 March, only two days after Cyclone Idai severely battered the Mozambican coastal city of Beira, Télécoms Sans Frontières (TSF) installed the first satellite connection in the area. This allowed all humanitarian actors present on the ground to benefit from an internet connection for coordinating their emergency response.
