By Chinasaokwu Helen Okoro
Cyclone Jude crashed through Mozambique on Monday with winds of up to 120km per hour and torrential rain.
It caused flooding and widespread damage to infrastructure, leaving people homeless and without power.
The Mozambique National Institute of Meteorology said the tropical storm made its landfall over the district of Mossuril in Nampula province in the early hours of the morning.
Locals in Nacala, a city in the province, were taken aback by its severity.
“This rain doesn’t stop falling; it started around 1am, and they’re saying it’s going to rain for 24 hours, and the wind and thunder don’t stop,“ said Nacala resident Isabel Namoro.
“The backyard walls and gates have fallen down. We can’t go to the market; there’s a lot of water. We’re suffering a lot.”
The situation in the region is already fragile and humanitarian response capacities overstretched following two recent cyclones, one in December and the other in January.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) described the situation as “very bad” and said children are particularly vulnerable.
Flooding increases the risk of waterborne diseases such as cholera, diarrhoea, and malaria. The UN said Nampula has the highest number of children out of any province in Mozambique.
“It has been raining in Nacala since yesterday, children are unable to go to school, they have no way to buy bread or anything,” said resident, Sheila.
“There is a lot of wind, houses and zinc sheets are falling down. In this area, five houses have fallen. Our neighbours are crying, they are suffering.”
UNICEF has been working with the government to distribute emergency aid kits and other forms of help to those affected.
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