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Cyclone Chido: Power Restored to 90,000 Customers, but 110,000 Still Without Electricity

Cyclone Chido: Power Restored to 90,000 Customers, but 110,000 Still Without Electricity

State-owned electricity company Electricidade de Moçambique (EDM) announced on Monday (16) that power had been restored to 90,000 customers affected by Cyclone Chido, but 110,000 remain without an electricity supply due to difficulties in accessing the most devastated areas, according to Lusa.

In a statement, EDM explained that the worst affected districts are in the provinces of Cabo Delgado, Nampula and Niassa, in the north of the country, and Zambézia, in the centre. The technical teams are on the ground, but bad weather conditions and the inaccessibility of some areas have made it difficult to restore the electricity grid.

‘EDM’s technical teams are on the ground, intervening in the network to gradually restore the system. However, the weather conditions and the inaccessibility of some locations have been the biggest obstacles and are contributing to the delay in restoring the electricity supply,’ the company said in a statement.

According to EDM, the worst affected districts in Cabo Delgado include Pemba, Mecufe, Metuge, Montepuez, Ancuabe, Chiúre, Quissanga and Ibo. In Zambézia, the worst damage is in Morrumbala and Dere, while in Niassa, the districts of Maúa, Metarica and Nipepe are still without electricity.

Cyclone Chido hit the northern coast of Mozambique between Saturday night and Sunday, leaving more than 200,000 customers without an electricity supply. Since then, the authorities and technical teams have been endeavouring to restore the grid and have already managed to restore power to 90,000 customers, despite the challenges on the ground.

The National Institute for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (INGD) confirmed today that Cyclone Chido has caused the death of three people in Nampula and seriously affected several infrastructures. ‘We have three deaths confirmed by the health sector in Nampula province. As for Cabo Delgado, the teams are still working to gather detailed information,’ said Luísa Meque, president of the INGD, during a preliminary assessment presented in Memba, one of the most affected districts in Nampula.

In addition to the human losses, the cyclone caused the partial destruction of homes and 66 classrooms in Nampula. In Cabo Delgado, INGD teams are still on the ground assessing the damage and providing assistance to the affected communities.

The authorities also warned that the phenomenon could affect the provinces of Niassa, Tete, Zambézia and Manica, in the centre of the country, although with less intensity, as the cyclone has lost strength and has been reclassified as a tropical storm.

‘We have information that the cyclone has weakened. We are now facing a level two tropical storm, which gives us hope that the impacts will be less severe than those recorded in Nampula,’ added Luísa Meque.

Mozambique, which annually faces severe weather phenomena during the rainy season (between October and April), remains one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to climate change. The authorities are urging the population to follow the guidelines of the competent authorities and stay in safe places.

EDM and INGD teams remain mobilised on the ground, with the aim of normalising the situation as quickly as possible and minimising the impact of Cyclone Chido on the affected communities.

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