Aid preparations gear up as Mozambique braces for second massive storm

Emergency measures are being stepped up by the UN and partners in northern Mozambique, amid fears that another devastating tropical storm could batter coastal areas, weeks after Cyclone Idai claimed hundreds of lives and flooded vast swathes of the south of the country.

“We are expecting that heavy rain will provoke flash floods and landslides impacting the north-eastern provinces of Cabo Delgado and Nampula. Another storm would be an additional blow for the people of Mozambique and further complicate the response in all areas,” World Food Programme (WFP) spokesperson Herve Verhoosel said.

Confirming that the agency is “closely” watching the approaching weather system in the north and helping provincial authorities to prepare for the worst, Mr. Verhoosel explained that a joint WFP/ International Organization for Migration (IOM) assessment team, is already in place.

WFP has an office in the coastal town of Pemba – where the cyclone is expected to make landfall – and it also has some 300 metric tons of food aid in the northern coastal towns of Palma and Mocimboa da Praia, where humanitarian partners have been advised “to prepare the warehouses to protect the food and to weather the storm”, Mr. Verhoosel explained.

Original source: UN News
Published on 25 April 2019