Mozambique: Natural disasters have killed 300 this rainy season

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Mozambique: Natural disasters have killed 300 this rainy season

5:42 CAT | 14 Apr 2023

FILE - For illustration purposes only. {File photo: Lusa/André Catueira]

At least 302 people have died, and over a million have been affected by natural disasters in Mozambique during the current rainy season, according to a report from the National Institute for Disaster Risk Management and Reduction (INGD).

Most of the deaths were caused by collapsed walls, drowning and lightning, the INGD said in a statement sent to Lusa.

Zambezia province recorded the highest number of deaths, a total of 179, followed by Sofala, with 27, both provinces in central Mozambique.

From 1 October until 3 April, natural disasters have also injured 807 people and partially or totally destroyed 222,088 homes and flooded 80,560 others.

The bad weather also affected 1,043 schools, 1,198,261 pupils and 14,765 teachers, according to INGD.

The 2022/2023 rainy season was also marked by the passage of Cyclone Freddy, which caused the death of at least 169 people and affected more than 200,000 families.

Freddy is one of the longest duration and trajectory cyclones in recent decades, having travelled more than 10,000 kilometres since it formed off northern Australia on 4 February and crossed the entire Indian Ocean to southern Africa.

The cyclone first hit Madagascar’s east coast on 21 February and returned to the island on 5 March, where it left a trail of 17 dead and 300,000 people affected, according to the latest figures.

According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Freddy may have broken the record duration of Hurricane John, which lasted 31 days in 1994, although the institution’s experts will not confirm this record until the cyclone has dissipated.

Mozambique is considered one of the countries most severely affected by climate change in the world, and it is currently in the rainy and cyclonic season, which occurs between October and April, with winds coming from the Indian Ocean and flooding from the southern African basins.

Source: Lusa