South Africa’s Sisulu to assess Cyclone Kenneth damage during Mozambique visit

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South Africa’s Sisulu to assess Cyclone Kenneth damage during Mozambique visit

9:38 CAT | 01 May 2019

SA Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Lindiwe Sisulu. Picture: Dirco.

Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Lindiwe Sisulu says she will be going to northern Mozambique to assess the damage caused by Cyclone Kenneth and report on assistance South Africa can provide.

She made two trips to the Beira area after deadly Cyclone Idai in March, firstly to check on the devastation and then to hand over a cheque for R70 million to President Filipe Nyusi.

South Africa gave R135 million to the governments of Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi to help rescue and rebuilding operations after Cyclone Idai in March.

The extent of the help it will provide after Cyclone Kenneth hit northern Mozambique last Thursday will largely depend on Sisulu’s assessment.

She said until she has gone there, the government would be at a loss as to what exactly it can do.

Death toll

The number of people killed after Cyclone Kenneth slammed into Mozambique had jumped from five to 38, the country’s disaster management institute said on Monday.

Cyclone Kenneth made landfall on Mozambique’s northern coast on Thursday, packing storm surges and wind gusts of up to 280 kilometres per hour, stretching resources in a region still recovering from Cyclone Idai, which struck further south in March. Since then it has dumped heavy rain on the region, causing floods.

Rains grounded aid flights in northern Mozambique for a second day on Monday, hampering efforts to reach survivors of Cyclone Kenneth.

Rescuers managed to use a brief break in the downpours to send one helicopter packed with aid to the island of Ibo, where hundreds of homes were flattened by the second cyclone to hit the country in less than six weeks.

But rains started again, and conditions were too dangerous for the next flight to take off, the United Nations said. Roads to rural districts further north were swamped and impassable after torrential rains on Sunday.

Source: EWN