More than 100,000 houses were partially or completely destroyed, according to the United Nations.

The government asked for international assistance a week after Cyclone Idai struck the southern African nation.

Idai is equivalent to a Category 3 storm on the Saffir–Simpson scale, packing wind gusts of up to 144 miles per hour.

The storm reached category-four status before reaching the northeastern coastline about 11 a.m. local time.

Its the first cyclone to make landfall in the southeast African nation in almost a decade, with winds gusting up to 110 miles per hour.