Maputo – A cyclone struck northern Mozambique leaving at least eight people dead on Friday, the national institute for risk management said.
Among the victims was a child crushed in the collapse of a house in Monapo, the institute said, raising the toll to eight.
President Filipe Nyusi had earlier announced on a visit to South Africa that seven people were dead.
Cyclone Gombe hit Nampula province overnight Thursday-Friday packing powerful winds – forecast to reach 160km per hour (100 mph) – and torrents of rain, causing serious damage to homes, the weather service said.
Tropical Cyclone Gombe made landfall in Mozambique just after 0Z March 11 as a category 3 storm with 115 mph winds, per the JTWC. Gombe is tied for third place for strongest tropical cyclone to hit Mozambique since satellite records began in 1998. Damage will be devastating. pic.twitter.com/ryZfNBlwQP
— Jeff Masters (@DrJeffMasters) March 11, 2022
“Preliminary information indicates that there are seven deaths, two in the city of Nampula as a result of collapsed houses and five in Angonche,” 170km to the southeast on the Indian Ocean, the president said earlier from Pretoria.
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“There are communication problems with the most affected districts in Nampula,” he added, warning of a flood risk from the Licungo River.
“There are many fallen trees and electricity poles are on the ground and can cause damage,” Nyusi said.
The cyclone weakened to a tropical storm later Friday but heavy rain continued to fall including over neighbouring provinces.
Electricity and water were cut in Nampula where mobile phone service was disrupted, reports said.
Flights to the province had been halted before the cyclone struck, the national carrier LAM said.
Aid groups were preparing to deploy in the region after Tropical Storm Ana in January left a trail of destruction and killed about 100 people across Madagascar, Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe.
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Source: AFP
Picture: DrJeffMasters
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