Mozambique: Cyclone Gombe causes at least seven deaths in Nampula province

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Mozambique: Cyclone Gombe causes at least seven deaths in Nampula province

9:17 CAT | 11 Mar 2022

Image: Euronews

The passage of cyclone Gombe through Mozambique, which began on Friday, has caused at least seven deaths, Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi said from Pretoria, where he is on a 24-hour official visit.

Cyclone Gombe hit the province of Nampula (northwest) on the night of Thursday to Friday with very violent winds, forecasts announced winds with speeds of up to 160 kilometres per hour, torrential rains, as well as significant damage in residential areas.

“Initial reports indicate seven dead, two in the city of Nampula due to collapsed houses and five others in Angoche,” 170 kilometres southeast on the Indian Ocean coast.

One of the dead in Angoche was electrocuted, Filipe Nyusi added.

The Mozambican head of state also referred to “communication problems with the most affected districts” of the northern province of Nampula and the country’s most populous and warned of “the risks of the Licungo river overflowing.

Nyusi also appealed to local residents to “continue to be careful because of the many fallen trees and electricity pylons on the ground which could cause damage”.

The cyclone weakened during the day, turning into a tropical storm but continues to bring heavy rain, covering neighbouring provinces.

In Nampula, the cyclone caused power and water cuts as well as difficulties in telephone communications, notably mobile phone communications, according to several accounts.

Flights to the province were cancelled on Thursday as a precaution, the national airline LAM announced.

In social networks, on the Internet, circulate photographs of material damage caused in various parts of the province, especially fallen trees, damaged homes and vehicles.

A source from the National Emergency Operation Centre (Cenoe) told Lusa that it would take a closer look at the situation later, after communications with the affected districts had been re-established.

Mozambique’s electricity company, EDM, said in a statement that there were 20 districts without power, affecting some 300,000 people.

Storm Gombe reached the Mozambican coast at around 3am (1am in Lisbon) in the category of intense cyclone with torrential rain and winds of 165 kilometres per hour, with gusts exceeding 200, announced the French weather centre on Réunion island.

The storm hit Mozambique three years after cyclones Idai and Kenneth hit the central and northern regions of the country in what was one of the heaviest rainy seasons in living memory.

Several non-governmental organisations are ready to intervene. Mozambique has already been hit hard in January by tropical storm Ana, which killed about 100 people in Madagascar, Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe.