Mozambique: Five die in Manica storm, four in Chimoio, one in Amatongas

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Mozambique: Five die in Manica storm, four in Chimoio, one in Amatongas

3:22 CAT | 12 Oct 2020

Photo: Noticias

Five people died and several were injured as a result of the storm which hit Chimoio and Gondola districts in Manica province, central Mozambique on Saturday.

One woman was struck by lightning while working in her vegetable garden in a suburb of Chimoio, after strong winds, accompanied by hail and thunderstorms, hit the city.

Another woman and her granddaughter were buried when the perimeter wall of the motocross track in the Tembwe (Piloto) neighbourhood on the outskirts of Chimoio collapsed.

The woman and her granddaughter were sheltering from the rain by the wall at the time.

A fourth victim survived the collapse of the same wall but died on Sunday afternoon at Chimoio Provincial Hospital, to where she had been taken, a medical source told Lusa.

In Amatongas, Gondola district, a child died after being crushed by a collapsing shack wall while resting.

“We want to express our solidarity with the victims and our heartfelt condolences to those who lost their relatives in this storm,” Manica governor Francisca Tomás said yesterday during an announcement regarding storm damage.

In a tour of Chimoio neighbourhoods yesterday, Lusa found several houses and places of worship without roofs or with collapsed walls, and several perimeter walls in ruins.

Many trees, especially fruit trees, were felled during the storm’s half-hour transit, as also were energy poles.

Speaking for Electricidade de Moçambique (EDM) in Manica, Silvia Guambe said that the city of Chimoio and some districts in Manica province were left without electricity after 20 electricity poles were blown over.

The bad weather destroyed several buildings, including homes, leaving families without shelter, ‘O País’ learned.

The trail of destruction left much of the city of Chimoio unrecognisable, a report by ‘O País’ reads. Shade trees fell, hampering traffic, with the total or partial destruction of public and private houses and infrastructure among the damage.

“There is work being done by local governments to verify the damage caused by the windstorm on the ground,” Francisca Tomás told journalists, adding that tarpaulins and food were already being mobilized to assist the victims.

This is the first storm of the rainy season to hit the province of Manica. The National Institute of Meteorology predicts that peak rainfall will occur earlier than usual, and probably before the end of the year.

Source: Lusa / O País