JOHANNESBURG (AP) Hundreds are dead, many more are missing and thousands are at risk from massive flooding in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi caused by Cyclone Idai and persistent rains.

Aid agencies and government officials were scrambling on Tuesday to rescue families trapped by rivers that burst their banks and were still rising.

Mozambiques President Filipe Nyusi has said the death toll could reach as high as 1,000. Although emergency workers warn they do not know whether the fatalities will reach that estimate, they say this is the regions most destructive flooding in 20 years.

Hardest hit is Mozambiques Beira port, a city of 500,000 where thousands of homes have been destroyed.

The city and surrounding areas have no power and nearly all communication lines have been destroyed. Beiras main hospital has been badly damaged. The cities of Dondo and Chimoio in central Mozambique are also badly affected.