Cyclone Kenneth kills 3 in Comoros en route to Mozambique, Tanzania

People stand by fallen trees in Moroni after Cyclone Kenneth hit Comoros. Picture: Ibrahim Youssouf/AFP

People stand by fallen trees in Moroni after Cyclone Kenneth hit Comoros. Picture: Ibrahim Youssouf/AFP

Published Apr 25, 2019

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Moroni - Violent winds of up to 140km/h lashed the East African island nation of Comoros overnight,

killing three people, authorities said on Thursday, as tropical

Cyclone Kenneth swept towards flood-battered Mozambique and

southern Tanzania.

The region was pounded by Cyclone Idai last month; the storm

and subsequent flooding killed more than 1,000 people in

Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi.

Kenneth may bring winds of up to 200km/h and torrential rain

to Mozambique, Tanzania and Comoros, the United Nations Office

for Disaster Risk Reduction said on Twitter on Thursday.

In Comoros, the winds intensified around 9pm on

Wednesday, causing widespread power outages in the capital

Moroni and on the other two main islands of the archipelago,

Anjouan and Ngazidja, residents said.

By Thursday morning, fallen trees and debris from homes

lined streets and roofs of some houses had been torn off, a

Reuters witness said.

Three people were killed in the storm and several others

injured, said President Azali Assoumani in a news conference.

"The damage is significant," he said.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent

Societies published photos from Comoros of fallen trees and

telephone lines and wrote that "homes and roads are damaged and

destroyed".

In Moroni, a small number of taxis moved around the centre

of the city on Thursday morning and policemen and soldiers were

deployed to remove debris and trees from blocked roads.

Government offices and schools were closed.

Cyclone Kenneth is expected to make landfall on Mozambique's

coast on Thursday, threatening to flood areas where more than

70,000 people live, according the National Directorate for the

Management of Water Resources.

The directorate broadcast warnings that people living in

areas at risk should move immediately to higher ground as aid

agencies prepared for an emergency.

Authorities in Mozambique's northern neighbour Tanzania have

ordered evacuations of residents from low-lying areas and the

closure of some schools and offices before the cyclone hits.

Cyclone Idai lashed Mozambique's port city of Beira with

wind speeds of up to 170km/h on March 14 and heavy rains

prompted flooding which submerged entire villages. Mozambican

health officials and international aid agencies have been

battling cholera in the wake of the cyclone. 

Reuters

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