Mozambique: President asks people to flee tropical storm Chalane landing zone

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Mozambique: President asks people to flee tropical storm Chalane landing zone

11:34 CAT | 28 Dec 2020

Photo: Presidency of the Republic

The Mozambican President has asked people to leave areas considered at risk from the tropical storm that is approaching the Mozambique channel, warning that the “pessimistic” scenario points to four million people affected.

“All over the country they are prepared and alert, but nobody is prepared for things like these because they are unpredictable situations in terms of damage. We will have to be careful and everyone in the risk areas better leave,” Mozambique’s President, Filipe Nyusi, said on Sunday during a meeting with officials from the National Institute for Disaster Management (INGC) in Maputo.

There was an alert issued by Mozambique’s National Institute of Meteorology (INAM) about the possibility of moderate tropical storm Chalane entering the Mozambique channel on Monday, which could evolve into a severe tropical storm and reach the Mozambican coast on Wednesday, particularly the provinces of Zambézia and Sofala, in the centre of the country.

#Chalane has entered the Mozambique Channel and can strengthen to a moderate or even a severe TS before striking central #Mozambique on Wednesday, local time. pic.twitter.com/wfaLXZT4CA

— Jason Nicholls (@jnmet) December 28, 2020

According to the Mozambican head of state, the “pessimistic” scenario points to 4 million people affected, as well as more than 6,000 schools and 550 hospitals in areas at risk.

“Once again we are facing a problem. [The system] has entered Madagascar and is evolving. It’s raining a lot there and it’s going to come out towards the Mozambique canal, so towards our side,” the head of state stressed.

Recalling the experience of cyclone Idai, which hit the country in 2019, Filipe Nyusi warned of the difficulties of assistance in the face of the humanitarian crisis caused by Covid-19 and the violence in Cabo Delgado, where attacks by armed rebels have caused a humanitarian crisis with more than 2,000 deaths and 560,000 displaced people.

“We are in a phase of Covid-19 where we must not be distracted, precautions must prevail. We will be in the flood phase, we have displaced people in some parts of the country”, he said, pointing out that it will be complex to guarantee assistance to those affected.

“We have to be careful, it will rain all over the country as soon as [the storm] enters our territory”, he warned.

Nyusiingc.chalane.pre_ — *Photo: Presidency of the Republic*

Between the months of October and April, Mozambique is cyclically affected by cyclonic winds from the Indian Ocean and by floods from the southern African watersheds, in addition to droughts that almost always affect some points in the south of the country.

The 2018/2019 rainy season was one of the most severe in Mozambique: 714 people died, including 648 victims of two cyclones (Idai and Kenneth) that hit the centre and the north.

Segundo previsões meteorológicas, o ciclone tropical Chalane, que já está a afectar o Madagáscar, vem em direcção ao…

Publicado por Presidente Filipe Nyusi em Domingo, 27 de dezembro de 2020

Source: Lusa