A powerful cyclone has hit Mozambique barely a month after a super-storm hit the centre of the country.
The storm, Kenneth, is a category three storm, smashed into the northern part of the country with winds of up to 160 kilometres an hours after sweeping through the Comoros Islands.
Mozambique’s emergency agency the INGC has already reported one person has been killed by a falling coconut tree in the port city of Pemba, Cabo Delgado’s provincial capital.
On the tourist island of Ibo, most of the homes for the 6,000 population had been flattened.
By Friday, the wind had reduced to about 70 Kilometres an hour, according to the local meteorological institute, although there are fears that heavy rains, forecast over the next 24 hours could cause flooding and mudslides. The UN World Food Programme (WFP) said over 600 millimetres (almost 24 inches) of rainfall was expected.
That is almost double the amount of rainfall that caused flooding during cyclone Idai.
Idai, considered the most powerful storm to hit the regions in decades left destruction in its wake as it cut through Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe, leaving over a hundred dead and reportedly caused damage estimated around $2 billion (1.8 billion euros)
The government of Mozambique has made public buildings including schools available to people seeking shelter from the flooding.
Helicopters are also expected to be used to rescue people as roads have been rendered impassable by the damage.
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