According to the red notice issued by National Institute of Meteorology (Inam)the cyclone, which entered the Mozambique Channel, has caused wind gusts of up to 195 kilometers per hour, “moving south at a speed of 8 miles per hour.”
The coast of Nampula province, northern Mozambique, remains under red warning this Tuesday, due to the wind and heavy rain caused by cyclone Dikeledi, which has already left more than 156,000 people without electricity.
According to the red notice issued by the which remains valid this Tuesday, the cyclone, which entered the Mozambique channel, has caused wind gusts of up to 195 kilometers per hour, “moving south at a speed of 8 miles per hour.”
“Inam predicts the occurrence of stormy winds and waves with heights of up to 14 meters (…). Additionally, the occurrence of heavy to very heavy rain (more than 150 millimeters in 24 hours) is expected, accompanied by severe thunderstorms” , says the Inam notice.
Meanwhile, Eletricidade de Moçambique (EDM) announced this Tuesday that “due to falling poles and broken cables” caused by cyclone Dikeledi, since Monday “the supply of electricity is conditioned” to some areas of Nampula province.
“Namely the districts of Nacala-Porto, Nacala-a-Velha, Mossuril, Memba, Ilha de Moçambique, Monapo and Nacaroa, affecting around 156,385 customers”, refers to EDM, ensuring that technical teams are in the field to try to restore “as soon as possible” o “normal supply of electrical energy”work that continues to be made difficult by the heavy rains and winds that are felt.
This is the second cyclone to affect the country, and again the north, in the space of a month.
The previous one, intense tropical cyclone Chido, level 3 (on a scale of 1 to 5), hit the coastal area of northern Mozambique in the early hours of December 14, then weakened to a severe tropical storm, continuing in the following days. , to attack the provinces in the north of Mozambique with “very heavy rainfall above 250 mm / 24 hours, accompanied by thunderstorms and very strong gusty winds”according to previous information from the National Emergency Operational Center.
Data recently updated by the Mozambican authorities show that at least 120 people died and another 868 were injured during the passage of Cyclone Chido in northern and central Mozambique.
This cyclone also affected 687,630 people, corresponding to 138,037 families, in the provinces of Cabo Delgado, Niassa and Nampula, in the north, and Tete and Sofala, in the center, according to the latest balance from the National Institute for Disaster Risk Management and Reduction. Mozambique.
Of the total confirmed deaths, 110 were registered in Cabo Delgado, seven in Nampula and three in Niassa.
Mozambique is considered one of the countries most severely affected by climate change in the world, cyclically facing floods and tropical cyclones during the rainy season, which runs between October and April.
