OWN CORRESPONDENT, Maputo | Monday 1.35pm
CYCLONE Eline, which killed seven people and caused severe damage as it swept across the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar, reached flood-devastated Mozambique on Monday.
“The effects of the cyclone are beginning to be felt in the southern coastal province of Inhambane,” the head of the national weather institute, Filipe Lucio, said in a radio broadcast. He warned ships still at sea in the Mozambique Channel to head immediately for harbour.
Lucio said the tourist town of Vilankulo could be the main victim of the storm “which shall be moving northwards to the central province of Sofala”.
However, he added, some parts of Gaza province, south of Inhambane, are also expected to be hit by Cyclone Eline, accompanied by heavy rains, thunder and winds of up to 120 kilometres an hour.
The provincial government in Inhambane has urged residents to remain indooors with their windows shut, while those in poorly built homes along the coast were advised to seek safer havens without delay.
The cyclone comes in the wake of Mozambique’s worst rains and floods in 40 years, which claimed 67 lives this month. The weather institute has expressed fears that if the cyclone turns southwards it could hit the already flood-ravaged southern Maputo province.
All major rivers in the south of the country have flooded, forcing about 300000 people to abandon their homes in three provinces, while the authorities estimate that a total of 800000 people have been affected countrywide. — AFP