Cyclone Kenneth: Road to northern capital reopened, circulation restored – Mozambique

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Cyclone Kenneth: Road to northern capital reopened, circulation restored – Mozambique

1:45 CAT | 29 Apr 2019

Pemba, on April 27. Photo: Lusa

The main road connecting Pemba, the provincial capital of Cabo Delgado in the north of Mozambique, to the rest of the country was reopened today after being submerged by flood water on Sunday, four days after the Cyclone Kenneth hit Mozambique.

The rest of the EN1 is also open, Lusa has established.

A section of the national highway was underwater near Mieze, 15 kilometres from Pemba, following heavy rain in the low-lying pasture-land. Existing runoffs were insufficient to release the excess water, which flooded the road for about a kilometre.

Some cars managed to get through to Pemba, but police blocked traffic leaving the provincial capital until the water subsided.

Cyclone Kenneth also wreaked havoc on seven other roads with no circulation alternatives, in the province of Cabo Delgado.

Among these were the bridge over the Muangamula River, about 200 kilometres north of Pemba, on the only asphalt road linking the north and south of the province, and dirt roads accessing areas in Macomia, Quissanga, Mucojo and the berthing piers of boats serving the island of Ibo.

Coastal sites were hardest hit by the cyclone, with being destroyed and the population finding it difficult to obtain food, shelter and water purification supplies.

ALSO READ: Cyclone Kenneth: Road to northern capital reopened, circulation restored – Mozambique

Street life in Pemba is back to normal today. Shops are open and transport operating, with the sun peeking timidly through the clouds and no wind or rain. On the beaches this morning, dozens of people were taking advantage of the low tide to catch shellfish among the sand and rocks swept by the storm surge.

“It’s over,” one resident said, bucket in hand, but although water levels have dropped sharply in the heaviest-flooded neighbourhoods, authorities remain on active alert due to rainfall forecasts.

Mobile communications and electricity have still not been restored in all areas covered before the cyclone, and part of Pemba remains without power. Mobile communications are also poor.

With surveys still underway in remote areas, the latest official figures indicate that, on the night of 24 to 25 April, Cyclone Kenneth caused five deaths, and Sunday’s flash floods in Pemba a further three.

There are 166,084 people affected, and 40 shelters housing 37,696 people, 7,389 of whom, such as pregnant women and the elderly people, are considered ‘vulnerable’.

Cyclone Kenneth landed in northern Mozambique after the centre of the country was hit by Cyclone Idai in March, causing 603 deaths and affected 1.5 million people.

Source: Lusa