Mozambique cyclone: Humanitarian situation is 'life-threatening'

Mozambique requires urgent life-saving relief to deal with the destructive aftermath of Cyclone Kenneth, an aid organisation has said.

Save the Children says the humanitarian situation is significant and life-threatening and more funds are needed.

The UN gave Mozambique and Comoros Island $13m (£10m) for food, water and repair of infrastructure.

The death toll in cyclone-hit northern Mozambique is 38, but is expected to rise, officials say.

Pemba, the regional capital, has experienced more than 2m (6.5ft) of rain and flooding

Meanwhile aid workers are scrambling to reach the areas that were worse hit by the cyclone.

The storm struck the southern African nation last week with winds of 220km/h (140mph), flattening villages and damaging thousands more homes.

It lost its strength, but torrential rain was still battering the area on Tuesday, with more expected.

As a result, aid efforts by air have been hindered.

It is predicted the weather system will dump twice as much rainfall as Cyclone Idai, which struck last month, leaving more than 900 dead across southern Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe.

The flood risk was compounded by Kenneth hitting at the end of the rainy season when river levels were already high, the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) noted.

Happening now:

Rains have paused this morning around Pemba and we are about to leave to Matemo Island with medical supplies from @UNICEF. Aid works will conduct assessments in the island, one of the worst-hit by #CycloneKenneth in #Mozambique. pic.twitter.com/hS7rjfQoKb

— OCHA Southern & Eastern Africa (@UNOCHA_ROSEA) 30 April 2019

Already, Pemba, the regional capital of Cabo Delgado state, has experienced more than 2m (6.5ft) of rain and flooding.

What's the latest?
Aid workers have been trying to deliver medical and food supplies to people cut off by the flood waters before more rain falls on Tuesday.

Nicholas Finney, Save the Children's response team leader, says that poor people in the region have been hardest hit.

"Those who were already living on the brink of poverty have now been left with nothing. With donations dwindling, we're facing a critical situation," he said.

According to Mozambique's National Institute of Disaster Management (INGC), 38 people have been killed by Cyclone Kenneth, while another 35,000 homes have been destroyed or damaged.

The privately-owned O Pais website reported five people died after part of a rubbish dump collapsed onto homes in Pemba on Sunday evening. It is unclear if these deaths are recorded in the government total.

Ocha says humanitarian needs "have sky-rocketed, and the humanitarian response will need to rapidly scale up".

Some 200,000 people are in danger in Pemba alone, Ocha warned. Spokesman Saviano Abreu added that the situation in the northern towns of Macomia and Quissanga was critical, while there were also worries for the cut-off island of Ibo.

But attempts to reach those areas had not been entirely successful.

"We managed to send one flight with World Food Programme (WFP) supplies of rice and biscuits, and some non-food items," Mr Abreu told news agency AFP.

"But unfortunately the weather conditions are changing too fast and threatening the operation. It's raining again and the second flight couldn't go."

This satellite image shows the cyclone over northern Mozambique and Tanzania on Friday night.

On Sunday a spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was appealing for "additional resources" from the international community "to fund the response in the immediate, medium and longer term".

Is it common for two cyclones to hit back-to-back?
Tropical cyclones in this part of the Indian Ocean are not that rare.

However, according to the BBC's Environment Correspondent Matt McGrath, Cyclone Idai was the seventh such major storm of the Indian Ocean season when it struck back in March. That is more than double the average for the time of year.

What's even more unusual, however, is the fact Idai and Kenneth hit in such quick succession.

According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), "there is no record of two storms of such intensity striking Mozambique in the same season".

It is especially unusual in the context of the trend which has seen tropical cyclones in the region decrease slightly over the past seven decades.

But it is far too early - and too small a sample size - to say whether this frequency is a direct result of climate change. Instead, experts point to other elements making the storm's impact worse which they know are related to climate change.

"There is absolutely no doubt that when there is a tropical cyclone like this, then because of climate change the rainfall intensities are higher," Dr Friederike Otto, from the University of Oxford, told the BBC in the aftermath of Cyclone Idai.

"And also because of sea-level rise, the resulting flooding is more intense than it would be without human-induced climate change."

What is the affected area like?
Cabo Delgado province is not as densely populated as the area hit by Cyclone Idai, and there is apparently more high ground there.

That, in addition to warnings by authorities ahead of the storm, could significantly stem losses compared with Cyclone Idai.

But reports said many thousands of homes had been flattened by the winds, and the area has been hit by militant Islamist violence in recent months, which could complicate humanitarian operations.

Thousands of people had already fled their homes to seek shelter from violence in camps for displaced people.

(Source: BBC)

Oman cyclone brings three years' rainfall in single day, leaves 11 dead

A cyclone more powerful than any previously recorded in southern Oman has slammed into the Gulf country and neighbouring Yemen, deluging a major city with nearly three years' worth of rainfall in a single day and leaving 11 people dead.

Eight people were also missing as Cyclone Mekunu caused flash flooding that tore away whole roadways and submerged others in Salalah, Oman's third-largest city, stranding drivers.


Rushing waters from the rain and storm surges flooded typically dry creek beds.

The holiday destination's now-empty tourist beaches were littered with debris and foam from the churning Arabian Sea.

India's Meteorological Department said the storm packed maximum sustained winds of 170 to 180 kilometres per hour with gusts of up to 200kph.

It called the cyclone "extremely severe".

Branches and leaves littered the streets. Several underpasses became standing lakes and cars were left abandoned on the road.

The Port of Salalah — a key gateway for the country and for Qatar amid a regional diplomatic dispute — remained closed, its cranes secured against the pounding rain and winds.

Salalah Port Services said it would take a minimum of 72 hours to "make the port safe".

Omani forecasters said Salalah and the surrounding area would get at least 200 millimetres of rain, over twice the city's annual downfall.

It actually received 278.2mm, nearly three times its annual rainfall.

The country's Labour Ministry declared a three-day holiday for companies and establishments in the private sector in the Dhofar region, state news agency ONA reported.

The central bank, meanwhile, issued a circular announcing a three-day holiday starting on Sunday for money exchange houses, banks, finance and leasing companies in Dhofar.

(Source: ABC)

My documentary will expose govt's total failure in cyclone Ockhi: Divya Bharathi

'Orutharum Varela', filmed over a month, is a documentary on how the government failed the fishing community.

Kakkoos filmmaker Divya Bharathi will soon be releasing her next documentary. Titled Orutharum Varela (Nobody Came), the film is a look at the devastation left behind by cyclone Ockhi.

Speaking to TNM, Divya said, "I mainly stayed in Kanyakumari which saw the greatest damage. I was there from December 9 to 27. In that period, I also travelled to Kerala and visited places like Poonthura which were affected by the cyclone. After this, I went to Nagapattinam and Cuddalore because a lot of fishermen who had died in Kanyakumari were from these places. Then I went to Thoothukudi - there were fishermen from there too who had gone on the Kumari boats. I shot for two days there. I also went to Pudhukottai."

Divya adds that the fishing community is a much marginalised section and that nobody is interested in representing their interests.

"We only look at the beach as a place for entertainment. It's only when I went there and stayed with those people that I understood how much politics is involved in this. Whether it's the BJP or the Congress, they don't want these people on the land or in the sea," she alleges.

More than the death toll (Divya says the cyclone itself could have killed only 10-15 people directly), it is the government's indifference towards rescue operations that will be the focus of Orutharum Varela.

"I wish to highlight the total failure of the IMD. Why wasn't a warning issued?" she asks, pointing out that an individual like the Tamil Nadu Weatherman is able to give weather forecasts in the morning but not a government body.

"Not a single MNC ship was affected by the cyclone. How did those ships go to the safe zone? Who informed them? Why weren't the fishermen told?" she questions.

Divya further comments on the interview given by Defence Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, and levels allegations against the government's response: "She was so arrogant. I find it difficult to say this about a woman. I met everyone who'd gone on the rescue operations and I found out how fake much of it was. The people lost faith on the rescue ops and they took their own boats and went in search. That's when they recovered a number of corpses. On December 16, they towed two boats full of rescued fishermen via Kochi. The Navy didn't even help them to tow the boats - didn't they see the boats at all? That's impossible."

Divya also says that she had to be careful about shooting for the documentary as the police had allegedly arrested and harassed activists who had put up posters blaming the government for the tragedy.

"Though I was careful, I was called to the police station once and asked to show my ID card. They also asked me why I had a camera. I told them that I had come for my friend's wedding. They noted down the date of the 'wedding' and told me I had to leave after that and that I'd get into trouble if they saw me there," she claims.

Divya says that the shoot for the documentary was completed by January 8. She is currently editing the film and also working on a song that they can incorporate in the documentary.

"I'm hoping to finish everything by January 25. It should release hopefully in the first week of February," says Divya.

(Source: TNM)