Cyclone Dikeledi leaves 156,000 without electricity in northern Mozambique

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Cyclone Dikeledi leaves 156,000 without electricity in northern Mozambique

3:33 CAT | 14 Jan 2025

Photo via @AllexandreMZ /X

The coast of Nampula province, northern Mozambique, remains under red alert this Tuesday, due to the winds and heavy rains caused by Cyclone Dikeledi, which has already left more than 156,000 people without electricity.

According to the red alert issued by the National Institute of Meteorology (INAM) which remains valid this Tuesday, the cyclone, which entered the Mozambique Channel, has caused wind gusts of up to 195 kilometres per hour, “moving south at a speed of 13 kilometres per hour”.

“INAM predicts the occurrence of gusty winds and waves with heights of up to 14 metres (…). In addition, the occurrence of heavy to very heavy rain (more than 150 millimetres in 24 hours) is expected, accompanied by severe thunderstorms,” the warning reads.

Meanwhile, power utility Electricity of Mozambique (EDM) announced this Tuesday that, “due to the fall of poles and rupture of cables” caused by Cyclone Dikeledi, the supply of electricity has since Monday been affected in some areas of the province of Nampula.

“This includes the districts of Nacala-Porto, Nacala-a-Velha, Mossuril, Memba, Ilha de Moçambique, Monapo and Nacaroa, affecting around 156,385 customers,” said EDM, giving assurances that technical teams were on the ground to try to restore “as quickly as possible” the “normal supply of electricity”, work that continues to be hampered by the heavy rains and winds that are being felt.

This is the second cyclone to affect the country, especially the north, in the space of a month.

The previous one, intense tropical cyclone Chido, Level 3 (on a scale of 1 to 5), hit the coastal area of northern Mozambique in the early hours of 14 December, later weakening to a severe tropical storm. In the following days, it continued to hit Mozambique’s northern provinces with “very heavy rains of over 250 mm/24 hours, accompanied by thunderstorms and winds with very strong gusts,” according to previous information from the National Emergency Operations Centre (CENOE).

Recently updated data from the Mozambican authorities indicate that at least 120 people died and another 868 were injured during the passage of Cyclone Chido in northern and central Mozambique.

According to the latest report from the National Institute for Disaster Risk Management and Reduction of Mozambique, the cyclone affected 687,630 people, corresponding to 138,037 families, in the provinces of Cabo Delgado, Niassa and Nampula, in the north of the country, and Tete and Sofala in the centre.

Of the total number of confirmed deaths, 110 were recorded in Cabo Delgado, seven in Nampula and three in Niassa.

Mozambique is among the countries most severely affected by climate change in the world, facing floods and tropical cyclones every rainy season, which runs from October to April.

156.385 clientes estão sem energia nos distritos de Nacala-Porto, Naca-à-Velha, Mossuril, Memba, Ilha de #Moçambique e Monapo em #Nampula, na sequência do ciclone #Dikeledi. A actividade de reposição está a ser dificultada pela prevalência de chuvas e ventos fortes. pic.twitter.com/HNPuymeGdg

— Alexandre Nhampossa (@AllexandreMZ) January 14, 2025