Cyclone Adds to Miseries in Mozambique

Storm-stricken Mozambique remained on high alert Friday as Cyclone Hudah moved slowly along its northern coast, toppling trees in one region and killing a child, disaster authorities said.

South Africa’s weather bureau said Cyclone Hudah, which killed at least 13 people as it tore through the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar, was following a slow and unpredictable course over the sea where it was gathering strength.

Hudah “is predicted to move slowly in a generally south-westerly direction but should remain offshore for the next 24 hours, during which time the intensity of the system is expected to remain at the tropical cyclone category,” the bureau said in its daily weather update.

The bureau said winds at the center of the cyclone had increased to about 100 mph from about 60 mph Thursday, but wind speeds overland were not expected to reach gale force before Saturday.

The bureau forecast more heavy rain north of Beira, mainly in the eastern coastal belt, which was not seriously affected by the earlier storms that caused havoc in the south.

“One child was killed in Nampula province yesterday after some trees were uprooted by rains and wind which resulted from the cyclone,” said Antonio Macheve, spokesman for Mozambique’s national disaster management institute.

He said initial assessments of the effects of the rain and wind indicated limited damage.

An assessment team, including 10 American rescue and disaster aid workers, was on its way to Beira, the country’s second largest city on the east coast, to assess the threat posed by Cyclone Hudah.

“We’re still worried about the cyclone and must stay on alert if it hits,” Macheve said.

The cyclone is threatening to unleash fresh havoc after two cyclones and floods devastated the impoverished country in February and March, leaving about 700 people dead and prompting a massive global aid effort.

The team will also assess damage in the northern Nampula and Zambezia provinces that were lashed by heavy rains over the past two days.

The northern provinces were relatively unaffected by the recent floods that ravaged the country’s central and southern regions, sweeping away bridges, roads and houses.

Macheve said two helicopters and a cargo plane were on standby to fly emergency supplies to Nampula and Zambezia, where some 400,000 people might be affected if the cyclone moves overland.