A family dig for their son who got buried in the mud when Cyclone Idai struck in Chimanimani about 600 kilometres south east of Harare, Zimbabwe, Tuesday, March, 19, 2019. According to the government, Cyclone Idai has killed more than 100 people in Chipinge and Chimanimani and according to residents the figures could be higher because the hardest hit areas are still inaccessible. Some hundreds are dead, many more are missing, and some thousands at risk from the massive flooding in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe caused by Cyclone Idai.(AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
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JOHANNESBURG (AP) - The Latest on Cyclone Idai and the flooding damage to Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi (all times local):
12:55 p.m.
Pope Francis is praying for victims of the cyclone-induced flooding in southern Africa and is urging support for those affected.
Francis issued an appeal at the end of his weekly general audience Wednesday for those affected by the flooding in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi that have killed more than 350 people.
Francis said: "I express my pain and closeness to those dear people. I entrust the many victims and their families to the mercy of God and urge comfort and support for those who have been struck by this calamity."
Aid workers are rushing to rescue victims from treetops after the cyclone unleashed the devastating floods.
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12:40 p.m.
Mozambique Telecom says some mobile phone service has been restored in the city of Beira after a tropical cyclone knocked out communications over the weekend.
The company says in a social media post on Wednesday that efforts continue to restore communications to other affected areas in central Mozambique.
Beira is a city of some 500,000 people and much of it has been destroyed. It is the staging area for frantic rescue efforts throughout the badly flooded region.
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12:35 p.m.
India's government says three naval ships have been diverted to Mozambique's port city of Beira after much of the city of 500,000 was destroyed by a tropical cyclone.
A statement says the ships changed course after a request from Mozambique's government and are providing humanitarian assistance that includes the evacuation of people stranded by rising flood waters. A helicopter from one ship also is operating.
The Indian statement also says the naval ships are expected to set up medical camps and provide food and other badly needed supplies.
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12:25 p.m.
More humanitarian aid is being pledged for the three southern African countries badly hit by a tropical cyclone that has killed hundreds of people.
The Emirates News Agency cites the Emirates Red Crescent as saying that the United Arab Emirates will provide 18.3 million dirhams ($4.9 million) to Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi.
Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa told survivors that a planeload of aid from the UAE is expected to arrive in the capital, Harare, later Wednesday.
And the chairman of the African Union Commission says the continental body will provide $350,000 in immediate support to the countries.
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Zimbabwe is retrieving and burying bodies Wednesday as Mozambique begins three days of national mourning for victims of Cyclone Idai.
The death toll is rising in both countries, but the full number of those killed and damage done will only be known when torrential floodwaters recede. Persistent rains are forecast through Thursday so it will be days before the plains of Mozambique drain toward the Indian Ocean.
Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa is to visit on Wednesday the hard-hit mountain community of Chimanimani on the eastern border with Mozambique. Some 300 people may have died in Zimbabwe as a result of the cyclone, say officials.
Mozambican officials say its death toll is 200 and rising. Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi said earlier this week he expects fatalities to be more than 1,000.
Soldiers and paramedics carry injured survivors from a helicopter in Chimanimani about 600 kilometres south east of Harare, Zimbabwe, Tuesday March, 19, 2019. According to the government, Cyclone Idai has killed more than 100 people in Chipinge and Chimanimani and according to residents the figures could be higher because the hardest hit areas are still inaccessible. Some hundreds are dead, many more are missing, and some thousands at risk from the massive flooding throughout the region of Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe caused by Cyclone Idai.(AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
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Soldiers carry injured survivors from a helicopter in Chimanimani about 600 kilometres south east of Harare, Zimbabwe, Tuesday, March, 19, 2019. According to the government, Cyclone Idai has killed more than 100 people in Chipinge and Chimanimani and according to residents the figures could be higher because the hardest hit areas are still inaccesible. Some hundreds are dead, many more are missing, and some thousands at risk from the massive flooding in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe caused by Cyclone Idai.(AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
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This photo issued Tuesday March 19, 2019, taken within last week and supplied by World Food Programme, flood waters cover large tracts of land in Nicoadala, Zambezia Province of Mozambique. Rapidly rising floodwaters have created "an inland ocean" in the country endangering many thousands of families, as aid organizations scramble to rescue and provide food to survivors of Cyclone Idai. (Photo World Food Programme via AP)
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Soldiers and paramedics carry injured survivors from a helicopter in Chimanimani about 600 kilometres south east of Harare, Zimbabwe, Tuesday, March, 19, 2019. According to the government, Cyclone Idai has killed more than 100 people in Chipinge and Chimanimani and according to residents the figures could be higher because the hardest hit areas are still inaccesible. Some hundreds are dead, many more are missing, and some thousands at risk from the massive flooding in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe caused by Cyclone Idai.(AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
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This photo issued Tuesday March 19, 2019, taken within last week and supplied by World Food Programme, flood waters cover large tracts of land in Nicoadala, Zambezia Province of Mozambique. Rapidly rising floodwaters have created "an inland ocean" in the country endangering many thousands of families, as aid organizations scramble to rescue and provide food to survivors of Cyclone Idai. (Photo World Food Programme via AP)
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A man stands on the edge of a collapsed bridge in Chimanimani, about 600 kilometers southeast of Harare, Zimbabwe, Monday, March 18, 2019. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
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Soldiers and paramedics rush to a helicopter to carry injured survivors in Chimanimani about 600 kilometres south east of Harare, Zimbabwe, Tuesday, March, 19, 2019. According to the government, Cyclone Idai has killed more than 100 people in Chipinge and Chimanimani and according to residents the figures could be higher because the hardest hit areas are still inaccessible. Some hundreds are dead, many more are missing, and some thousands at risk from the massive flooding in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe caused by Cyclone Idai.(AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
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Luckymore Rusero and his family walk past a collapsing road in Chimanimani, southeast of Harare, Zimbabwe, Monday, March 18, 2019. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
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Soldiers carry supplies to areas affected by Cyclone Idai in Chimanimani, about 600 kilometers southeast of Harare, Zimbabwe, Monday, March 18, 2019. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
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Luckymore Rusero and his family walk past a collapsing road in Chimanimani, southeast of Harare, Zimbabwe, Monday, March 18, 2019. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
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This image made available by International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) on Monday March 18, 2019, shows an aerial view from a helicopter of flooding in Beira, Mozambique. The Red Cross says that as much as 90 percent of Mozambique's central port city of Beira has been damaged or destroyed by tropical Cyclone Idai. (Caroline Haga/International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) via AP)
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Soldiers handout food supplies to people in Chimanimani, southeast of Harare, Zimbabwe, Monday, March 18, 2019. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
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People wait in a queue to receive food supplies from soldiers in Chimanimani, about 600 kilometers southeast of Harare, Zimbabwe, Monday, March 18, 2019. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
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A collapsed road near a bridge is seen in Chimanimani, southeast of Harare, Zimbabwe, Monday, March 18, 2019. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
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A woman makes her way to a school building being used as an emergency shelter for some 300 local people who are unable to return to their homes following cyclone force winds and heavy rain in the coastal city of Beira, Mozambique, Sunday March 17, 2019. More than 1,000 people are feared dead in Mozambique four days after a cyclone slammed into the southern African country destroying vulnerable residential areas. (Josh Estey/CARE via AP)
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A family stands next to the grave of a relative who got killed when Cyclone Idai struck in Chimanimani about 600 kilometres south east of Harare, Zimbabwe, Tuesday March 19, 2019. According to the government, Cyclone Idai has killed more than 100 people in Chipinge and Chimanimani and according to residents the figures could be higher because the hardest hit areas are still inaccessible. Some hundreds are dead, many more are missing, and some thousands at risk from the massive flooding throughout the region of Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe caused by Cyclone Idai.(AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
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An elderly man arrives at a shelter in Chimanimani about 600 kilometres south east of Harare, Zimbabwe, Tuesday March 19, 2019. According to the government, Cyclone Idai has killed more than 100 people in Chipinge and Chimanimani and according to residents the figures could be higher because the hardest hit areas are still inaccessible. Some hundreds are dead, many more are missing, and some thousands at risk from the massive flooding throughout the region of Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe caused by Cyclone Idai.(AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
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A woman does her laundry near a mountain where a mudslide caused by Cyclone Idai killed several people in Chimanimani about 600 kilometres south east of Harare, Zimbabwe, Tuesday March 19, 2019. According to the government, Cyclone Idai has killed more than 100 people in Chipinge and Chimanimani and according to residents the figures could be higher because the hardest hit areas are still inaccessible. Some hundreds are dead, many more are missing, and some thousands at risk from the massive flooding throughout the region of Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe caused by Cyclone Idai.(AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
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A soldier carries shovels during a rescue operation in Chimanimani about 600 kilometres south east of Harare, Zimbabwe, Tuesday, March, 19, 2019. According to the government Cyclone Idai has killed more than 100 people in Chipinge and Chimanimani and according to residents the figures could be higher because the hardest hit areas are still inaccessible. Some hundreds are dead, and many more still missing with many thousands at risk from massive flooding in the region of Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe caused by Cyclone Idai. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
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A soldier carries a rope during a rescue operation in Chimanimani about 600 kilometres south east of Harare, Zimbabwe, Tuesday, March 19, 2019. According to the government Cyclone Idai has killed more than 100 people in Chipinge and Chimanimani and according to residents the figures could be higher because the hardest hit areas are still inaccessible. Some hundreds are dead, and many more still missing with many thousands at risk from massive flooding in the region of Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe caused by Cyclone Idai. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
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