Tropical Cyclone Freddy has displaced more than 700 families in Mozambique’s Sofala province, according to officials on Monday.
The tropical storm, which made landfall on the Mozambican coast for a record second time at the weekend, battered central Mozambique on Sunday after making landfall for a second time in a month on Friday.
It left a trail of destruction in its wake, damaging communications and electricity infrastructure in the most affected provinces of Nampula, Sofala and Zambezi.
National Institute for Disaster Management (INGD) provincial head in Sofala, Aristides Armando said the province’s Marromeu district was the most affected, with more than 600 houses destroyed, followed by Muanza where the storm left a lot of damage.
The INGD official said it has been raining in the province for four consecutive days, with displaced persons being accommodated in shelters around the region.
“The recommendation is that they remain in sheltered places and to avoid moving around because of the thunderstorms,” Armando told state-run Radio Mozambique.
More than 171,000 people were affected after the cyclone first swept through southern Mozambique last month, killing 27 people in Mozambique and Madagascar.
More than half a million are at risk of being affected in Mozambique this time, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has warned.
JN/APA