Tropical Storm Ana has claimed at least 21 lives and affected more than 126,000 others in Mozambique amid fears that another more deadly storm is headed towards the country, the UN warned on Monday.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Tropical Storm Ana has since January 24 “affected 126,198 people, injured 210 people and killed at least 21 people.”
“The storm also flooded a total of 37,930 hectares of crops, with serious concern about the impact on food security, and reportedly affected 249 schools, destroying 543 classrooms and affecting some 46,777 students,” the agency said.
Citing latest data from the National Disasters Management Institute, OCHA also revealed that the storm had damaged 30 health centres, 23 water supply systems and 144 power poles.
The storm Ana made landfall in Angoche district, Nampula province, on January 24 and has significantly affected the provinces of Zambezia, Nampula and Tete and to a lesser extent Niassa, Sofala and Cabo Delgado.
Following the passage of tropical storm Ana, serious concerns about its residual impact and the formation of another low-pressure system named Batsirai, remain.
“The new system which formed over the Indian Ocean on 26 January, has recently evolved into a tropical cyclone with winds up to 150km/h and gusts up to 215km/h,” OCHA said, quoting the National Institute of Meteorology (INAM).
Tropical cyclone Batsirai is currently moving towards Mauritius and the east coast of Madagascar, “with the high potential of becoming an intense tropical cyclone over the next days.”
JN/APA