On Thursday, powerful Cyclone Kenneth struck Mozambique and recognized as one of the strongest storms ever to hit the nation. Sadly the country is still under recovery from the devastation caused by Cyclone Idai in March. There were many people who were being evacuated to shelters due to this Tropical Cyclone which bore down on northern Mozambique.
Cyclone Kenneth is said to be the strongest tropical cyclone which struck the nation in known history. On the other hand, The National Institute of Disaster Management in Mozambique alleged that it had given shelters and started required evacuation of families to the shelters. It is also predicted that the dangerous winds, as well as storms Cyclone Kenneth, will carry out with it torrential rainfall along with flooding.
The winds of Cyclone Kenneth are scary, and the most significant threat is that storm is expected to stall out specifically on the Northeastern corner of the nation for next few days which will dump feet of rain. As per the estimation of United Nations about 747,000 people are residing in the pathway of this storm and are in danger from the flooding.
Cyclone Kenneth is projected to push approximately 10 feet of water on shore at the time of storm in the form of flooding. Also, many areas in the northeastern region of the country can also experience about 40 inches of rain. On Wednesday cyclone Kenneth strengthened speedily and continued to intensify till Thursday morning.
The Mozambique country director for the humanitarian aid organization CARE, Marc Nosbach, said that ‘rivers in this area of Mozambique may flood and at least one of the dams is already close to full capacity, which will prevent floodwater from being retained. This will also make it unfeasible to allocate aid as roads will be impassable.’
NASA also warned that ‘residents on Mozambique / Tanzania border should prepare themselves for storm surge along the coasts, hurricane force winds as well as heavy rainfall.’ According to the reports of Tanzania Meteorological Agency, Cyclone Kenneth is projected to hit the coastal regions of Dar es Salaam, which is the port city of Tanga and Pemba Island. Forecasters also said that strong winds along with rain might even impinge on the Lake Victoria basin, the coast and its mountainous areas. Tanzania local authorities also urged the residents to stay indoors in these regions from a safety point of view.
Also, the New York Times reported that ‘the Cyclone Kenneth is already a killer as on its way to Mozambique it passed all the way through Comoros and where three people died. As per the UN official it as one of the worst weather disasters to ever seen in the Southern Hemisphere. This will only add to the burden of the country which is still reeling itself from Cyclone Idai.
Is Cyclone Kenneth more devastating than Cyclone Idai?
However, Cyclone Kenneth’s impact is not estimated to be as destructive in comparison to Cyclone Idai, as Idai delivered heavy rains for days before and after making landfall on 15th March with the winds speed of 175 kph, i.e. 109 mph. However, Cyclone Idai continued rainfall along with strong winds as well as storm surge carried out catastrophic flooding. Also, this flooding submerged many villages and towns as the storm pushed inland towards Malawi and Zimbabwe.
Beira is more populated than Northern Mozambique, and the population hub was struck by Cyclone Idai. Here many rivers come together and flow into the Mozambique Channel, and due to this, the region is more vulnerable to flooding. In recent days nation’s northern area has not experienced intense rainfall which surely mitigates the effect of flooding with Idai.
