Mozambique seeks $3.2 billion to recover from cyclones

JOHANNESBURG – Mozambique says it needs $3.2 billion to recover from a pair of tropical cyclones that ripped into the southern African nation this year and killed more than 600 people.

That's according to a government assessment for a global pledging conference that begins Friday.

Some aid workers fear the worst is yet to come. Cyclones Idai and Kenneth wiped out crops on the eve of harvest, and hundreds of thousands of people might have to rely on food aid well into next year.

This was the first time in recorded history that two cyclones struck Mozambique in a single season, raising alarm about the effects of climate change on coastal nations.

Aid workers call relief efforts surprisingly underfunded. Just 30% of the U.N. humanitarian appeal for Mozambique has come in.