UN chief appeals for more support as Cyclone Kenneth hits Mozambique, Comoros

Some 3,500 homes in Comoros have been totally or partially destroyed and there are reports of electrical outages, road blockages and at least one bridge collapse.

Six weeks after cyclone Idai made landfall in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe the region is again struck with another deadly cyclone, Kenneth which marred parts of Mozambique and Comoros. Cyclone Kenneth has forced thousands to flee from their residence to a safer place.

United Nation (UN) Secretary-general, Antonio Guterres, has called for more support to the affected areas after deadly cyclone Kenneth. The cyclone with powerful winds that ripped apart the roofs off homes, caused the death of at least five people in Mozambique’s Pemba city, Macomia district and on Ibo Island.

Some 3,500 homes in Comoros have been totally or partially destroyed and there are reports of electrical outages, road blockages and at least one bridge collapse, according to UN World Food Programme WFP.

Several coastal communities in Macomia district, in Cabo Delgado Province of #Mozambique, were completely flattened by #CycloneKenneth. With heavy rains forecast in the whole province, shelter is an urgent priority for families affected. pic.twitter.com/WArlzYFbKu

— OCHA Southern & Eastern Africa (@UNOCHA_ROSEA) April 28, 2019

UN chief appealed to the international community for additional resources, critically needed to fund the response to the twin tragedies in the immediate, medium- and longer-term. Guterres said, "saddened at reports of loss of lives and destruction in Mozambique and Comoros as a result of tropical cyclone Kenneth.” The UN chief also extended his condolences and solidarity to the families of the victims and to the governments and peoples of Mozambique and Comoros.

Last Friday, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock lamented that Cyclone Idai had devastated central Mozambique, killing more than 600 people, unleashing a cholera epidemic, wiping out crops in the country’s breadbasket, forcing a million people to rely on food assistance to survive, and causing massive destruction of homes, schools and infrastructure in one of the world’s poorest countries.

He stressed that Cyclone Kenneth marks the first time two cyclones have made landfall in Mozambique during the same season, further stressing the Government’s limited resources. Malawi and Zimbabwe are also expected to experience heavy rains and flooding caused by Cyclone Kenneth.

“Cyclone Kenneth may require a major new humanitarian operation at the same time that the ongoing Cyclone Idai response targeting three million people in three countries remains critically underfunded,” said Mr. Lowcock, adding:  “The families whose lives have been turned upside down by these climate-related disasters urgently need the generosity of the international community to survive over the coming months.”

Brazilian search and rescue team informed they successfully rescued around 350 people today from flooded areas in Natite, Chiguaguare, Mieze, Jozina Machel and Paquitequete neighbourhoods in Pemba, #Mozambique.Heavy rains are predicted for the coming days.#CycloneKenneth pic.twitter.com/Dq51zs1Vyq

— OCHA Southern & Eastern Africa (@UNOCHA_ROSEA) April 28, 2019

The UN and its partners have been in the region since late March after Cyclone Idai made landfall near Beira City in central Mozambique. The long-lived cyclone continued across the land as a Tropical Storm and hit eastern Zimbabwe, southeastern Malawi and parts of Madagascar with heavy rains and strong winds.