A powerful tropical storm continues to wreak havoc in the southeast of Africa as it moves inland. Cyclone Idai has now killed at least 24 people in Zimbabwe after claiming more than 100 lives in Mozambique and Malawi. Jane Kiyo reports on the United Nations aid operation that is now underway.

A major aid operation is under way in Mozambique and Malawi, to help victims of tropical cyclone Idai.

According to UN agencies, the hurricane has made landfall near the densely-populated Mozambican port city of Beira, after registering maximum wind speeds of nearly 200 kilometres per hour.

HERVE VERHOOSEL WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME SENIOR SPOKESPERSON "Tropical Cyclone Idai has made landfall near the heavily-populated Mozambican port city of Beira, which has compounded destructive flooding that has already occurred as far inland as southern Malawi and eastern Zimbabwe. The World Food Programme has been stepping up preparations to meet large-scale assistance needs."

Exceptional rainfall before the cyclone hit has already affected a total of 1.5 million people, in both Malawi and Mozambique, claiming more than 120 lives.

"I saw a woman being hit by debris, it's not safe for people walking here. The situation is very chaotic."

In addition, tens of thousands of people have been displaced and homes, roads, bridges and crops washed away.

The UN agency has however begun to assess the extent of the flood damage, and prioritise needs among the most vulnerable.

HERVE VERHOOSEL WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME SENIOR SPOKESPERSON "We expect that some of the zone will have difficult or no access at all. I don't know if you know a bit Mozambique, but the Zambezi river there, the water will of course come up a lot. We have a lot a villages and small cities there near the river, because a lot of the commercial activity is linked to the river with people who are fishing, people who use the river for communication between villages. And those zones will be the most affected."

Mozambique has seen deadly floods, worsened by devastating hurricanes in the past.

In the year 2000, Cyclone Eline struck the country killing 350 people.

The storm left 650,000 homeless across southern Africa. Jane Kiyo, CGTN.