Water just wouldn’t stop falling. Our house was on the verge of collapse, so my wife I picked up the kids and left for high ground. It was awful to see our lifelong efforts, our home, wash away like that. But we are lucky, at least our whole family is safe.” – João* 34, father of four (*name changed for anonymity)

These are the words of a survivor. After Cyclone Idai wrought havoc on Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi, not everyone was as lucky as João. The intense tropical storm left more than 1,000 dead, thousands still missing, and hundreds of thousands displaced.