Cyclone Kenneth Hits Mozambique

Tropical Cyclone Kenneth swirled powerfully into northern Mozambique on Thursday. This is barely a month after Cyclone Idai ravaged the country, leaving death and devastation in its wake.

Authorities in Mozambique declared a “red alert” in Cabo Delgado province as they prepare to evacuate residents from the area. Relief agencies in the country are already stretched as they continue to mitigate the aftermath of Idai, which left more than 1,000 people dead in Mozambique, Malawi, and Zimbabwe.

The government said it evacuated some 30,000 people ahead of the storm.

Winds from Cyclone Kenneth escalated to those equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane, weakening before coming ashore, but are still the strongest recorded to date in Mozambique.

The United Nations warned of flash flooding and landslides with the country’s emergency situation institute (INGC) reporting the first casualty in Cabo Delgado. 90 percent of homes on the tourist island of Ibo have been flattened, said a spokesman for the institute.

“Cyclone Kenneth is currently making landfall on the north coast of Mozambique,” the UN World Food Programme (WFP) announced in a statement.

“The Cyclone is expected to bring heavy rains in the area for several days, with over 600 millimeters rainfall expected.” That volume of rain would be nearly double the 10 days of accumulated rainfall that caused flooding in Beira during Cyclone Idai.

The U.N. said Idai killed more than 600 people and displaced tens of thousands. They added that this is the first time in recorded history that the southern African nation has been hit by two cyclones in one season.

Forecasters at Meteo-France warned of the possibility of Kenneth triggering waves off Mozambique’s northeastern shore as much as five meters (16 feet) higher than usual.

“I was quite preoccupied by the sea because they announced six-meter waves… the wind was very strong, and I’ve never seen anything like it in my 15 years in Pemba,” said Anabela Moreira, Portuguese owner of a lodge on Wimby beach.

Jonah Wazir, a local journalist, “noticed that some precarious houses had fallen down.” He also said that electricity supply in the city was down and strong winds were gusting since this afternoon.

The Red Cross has warned of concern over the storm’s impact, as many communities in the country are still recovering from Cyclone Idai that hit in March.

“Cyclone Kenneth may require a major new humanitarian operation” in one of the world’s poorest nations, even as post-Cyclone Idai relief operations are expected to continue for months, U.N. humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock said in a statement.

“The families whose lives have been turned upside down by these climate-related disasters urgently need the generosity of the international community to survive over the coming months,” he said.

As with the earlier cyclone, thousands of people in the days ahead could be left exposed and hungry as waters rise.

While damage assessments are still in the very early stages, “we know this is a very vulnerable area, higher in poverty” than the one hit last month by Cyclone Idai, she said.

The storm had earlier hit the Indian Ocean island nation of Comoros. Homes were flooded, key crops were destroyed and three people reported to have lost their lives.

Preparedness and Response

The Comoros has activated its National Contingency Plan with the establishment of a fixed command post within the General Directorate of Civil Security (DGSC). Ahead of the storm, people living in high-risk areas were urged to evacuate to shelters in safe locations. Emergency stocks have been positioned for the health, education, nutrition and WASH sectors and the United Nations has deployed staff to support Government-led assessments.

In Mozambique, the Government and Red Cross volunteers alerted communities in areas where the concern of flooding, erosion and landslides was particularly high and at least 30,000 people were evacuated from areas at highest-risk, according to the National Institute for Disaster Management (INGC). Flights to Pemba have been suspended and schools have been closed in the cyclone’s path.

Schools are also being prepared by the government to host people displaced by the storm. An INGC team, led by the Director-General, has deployed to Pemba, which humanitarian partners are supporting. A joint World Food Programme (WFP)/International Organisation for Migration (IOM) team is pre-positioned in the northern part of the province to support the response. Humanitarian organizations have pre-positioned supplies and have additional teams on stand-by to deploy to the area.

The immediate concerns are flooding and what it could do to infrastructure. Roads could cut off rural communities from aid and landslides could compound the problem. It’s the same issue aid agencies faced after Idai, where communities are still being reconnected with the outside world weeks after the initial disaster.

To help mitigate some of the risks, local Red Cross volunteers, many of whom live in the communities about to bear the brunt of Kenneth’s impacts, have spent the past few days preparing residents for what’s coming. That has included tying down roofs and stockpiling food and water. The group has been making sure messages about hygiene are being broadcast loud and clear to reduce the risk of waterborne diseases like cholera, which has run rampant to the south in wake of Idai.

Tanzania

In Tanzania, an increase in cloud formation is already being witnessed, and an increase of rain is expected in Dar es Salaam, Tanga, Pemba, Lindi and Mtwara regions, the south coast of Tanzania and around Lake Victoria.

Tanzanian authorities have ordered schools and businesses closed in some southern districts and urged citizens to brace for extreme winds and rain.

The country’s meteorological agency warned that the Tanzanian provinces of Mtwara, Ruvuma and Lindi are at the highest risk and could experience strong winds and downpours from the middle of the Thursday.

Mtwara residents were already leaving the coastal enclave with their families, some on foot, witnesses said. The governor of Mtwara, Gelasius Byakanwa, ordered schools in his province shut down but called on medical staff, police and utility workers to remain on duty.

Kenya

The Kenya Meteorological Department has refuted reports claiming that Cyclone Kenneth may hit the Kenyan Coast.

However, according to the Met. department, parts of Nairobi, Isiolo, Western Kenya and Samburu will experience cyclone effects in the form of enhanced rainfall.

The weatherman says by the laws of physics, cyclones cannot come very close to the equator.

“It is FALSE that cyclone Kenneth will hit the Kenyan Coast. By the laws of physics, Cyclones cannot come this close to the equator. Landfall will be northern Mozambique as shown in the satellite image,” the department tweeted.

Kenya Airways on Friday cancelled flights to Moroni, the capital of Comoros citing severe weather.

In a statement on Thursday, the national carrier also said flights to Dzaoudzi, a commune in the French overseas department of Mayotte are also cancelled until further notice.

“We wish to inform our guests that we have cancelled flights to Dzaoudzi and Moroni due to closure of the airports by the local civil aviation authorities as a result of the unfavourable weather conditions. We are monitoring the situation and we shall give updates as we receive them,” KQ said on Twitter.