A handout photo made available by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent showing damage caused by Cyclone Kenneth in an undisclosed location in northern Mozambique, 26 April 2019. Red Cross teams in northern Mozambique are reporting serious damage in towns and communities that bore the brunt of Cyclone Kenneth overnight. Kenneth made landfall with wind speeds of up to 231 km per hour – almost the equivalent of a category 4 hurricane. Initial reports from Quissanga indicate extensive damage to houses, while communication with Macomia and Muidumbe remains down. EPA-EFE/HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALESAt least 182 people were injured by the hurricane-strength storm that swept across the two nations last week, the United Nations humanitarian office said in an emailed statement.
Kenneth was the second cyclone to hit Mozambique in two months, after a previous storm in March left more than 1,000 people dead in the southern African nation, along with neighboring Zimbabwe and Malawi.
Most of Comoros’ inhabitants have been without power since latest cyclone damaged the country’s electricity grid last week, the UN agency said.
“The electricity grid is destroyed throughout the country, leaving the majority of people without power and impacting access to health-care,” it said. About 63 percent of the nation’s food crops have been destroyed, while there’s also been a “significant” loss of livestock, the agency said.
Damage in Mozambique includes the destruction of at least 35,100 houses, the UN said. DM
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