Death Toll from Storm Chalane in Mozambique Rises to 7

Saturday, January 02, 2021

People stand by damaged houses and fallen trees on April 25, 2019 in Moroni after tropical storm Kenneth hit Comoros before heading to recently cyclone-ravaged Mozambique.

Ibrahim Youssouf | AFP

By Arnaldo Vieira

Angola Correspondent

Nation Media Group

The death toll due to tropical storm Chalane in central Mozambique has risen from four to seven, the National Calamities Management Institute (INGC) said Friday.\

The storm has passed through Madagascar and Zimbabwe.

The three new fatalities in Mozambique, which were due to drowning, were recorded in Chimoio, the capital of Manica province capital.

The first four were in the provinces of Sofala (one), in Manica (one) and in Zambézia (two).

In Sofala, Manica and Zambézia, the storm has left at least 10 people injured, several houses destroyed and a total of 36,000 people affected.

On Sunday, Mozambique President Filipe Nyusi asked the public to abandon risky zones as the storm neared the country. His warning came after a meeting with INGC personnel. 

The INGC forecasted that four million people will be affected and more than 6,000 schools and 550 health facilities in risky zones damaged.

Worst disasters

In March and April 2019, cyclones Idai -- with its epicentre at the port of the country’s second-largest city, Beira, -- and Kenneth, hit Mozambique just a few weeks apart.

The two are the worst natural disasters recorded in the country in the last two decades.

Cyclone Kenneth hit the northern provinces of Cabo Delgado and Nampula, affecting more than 400,000 people.

The cyclones killed at least 1000 people in Mozambique in 2019.

Between April and October Mozambique, is cyclically hit by winds, floods and drought in some parts of the south. 

In 2018, Pope Francis visited Mozambique in the wake of cyclones. In 2017, heavy rains followed a severe drought that saw the Mozambican government declare an orange level alert.

The climatic changes were attributed to the El Niño weather phenomenon, which has been destructive.