Another cyclone expected to hit Mozambique on Thursday

Reuters | Another tropical cyclone is expected to make landfall on Mozambique’s coast on Thursday, just over a month after a more powerful storm struck the Mozambican port city of Beira further south and killed hundreds of people.

Weather forecasters say Cyclone Kenneth will bring heavy rainfall, strong winds and waves of several meters to the southern African nation, which is still reeling from the effects of devastating Cyclone Idai.

International energy companies such as Exxon Mobil have been developing huge natural gas fields off the coast of northern Mozambique.

“It is going to make landfall tomorrow afternoon at Cabo Delgado, on the northeastern coast of Mozambique, and it is going to be a cyclone with wind speeds which could be 140 kph (87 mph),” said Jan Vermeulen, from the South African Weather Service.

A cyclone report issued by a regional cyclone-monitoring center on the Indian ocean island of La Reunion said parts of southern Tanzania could also be affected by Cyclone Kenneth.

“The weather system will generate a storm surge when landing on the coast of Mozambique, which can reach between 2 and 4 meters in some areas, to which must be added the breaking of waves and heavy rainfall, which can cause flooding in Mozambique,” the report said.

More than 500 people were reported killed by Cyclone Idai in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi.

That storm lashed the coastal town of Beira with wind speeds of up to 170 kph (106 mph) on March 14 and heavy rains prompted flooding which submerged entire villages.