Around 200,000 customers are without electricity in the provinces of Nampula and Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique, due to the effects of cyclone Chido, state electricity company EDM announced this afternoon.
Eletricidade de Moçambique (EDM) explained in a statement that the situation has been going on since Saturday night and affects the districts of Mecufi, Metuge, Macomia, Quissanga, Ilha do Ibo, Muidumbe, Mueda, Nangade, Palma, Mocímboa da Praia, Chiúre, Ancuabe, Montepuez, Namuno and Meluco, as well as the provincial capital, Pemba, in Cabo Delgado, and Eráti and Memba, in Nampula.
‘As a result, around 200,000 customers are without power,’ says EDM.
‘Although the bad weather persists, hampering access and communications, EDM technicians are on the ground carrying out intervention work on damaged or faulty equipment to enable the supply to the affected areas to be restored as soon as possible,’ the company guarantees.
According to the National Emergency Operations Centre (CNOE), the intense tropical cyclone Chido, rated 3 (1 to 5), which hit the coastal area of northern Mozambique on the night of Saturday to Sunday, has ‘weakened to a severe tropical storm’, but ‘continues to batter’ those two northern provinces, with ‘very heavy rainfall of over 250 mm [millimetres]/24 hours, accompanied by thunderstorms and winds with very strong gusts’.
‘This scenario presents a high risk of urban flooding and erosion in the cities of Pemba, Nacala and Lichinga, as well as in low-lying and riverside areas of the Muaguide, Megaruma and Lúrio river basins,’ says the CNOE information, consulted by Lusa.
The effects of Cyclone Chido were already being felt in northern Mozambique this morning, especially in coastal areas, with power cuts limiting communications, reported the NGO ActionAid.
‘The situation in the city of Nampula remains calm. Rain and thunderstorms were recorded, but at the moment the rain has slowed down and even stopped. It has not yet been possible to establish contact with the district of Memba, where the impact is suspected to have been significant,’ reads an assessment made this morning by the Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO).
According to the NGO, in Cabo Delgado ‘there is already damage, such as collapsed walls and roofs’ and ‘it is expected that the coastal areas are already suffering the most severe effects of the cyclone’.
‘Several neighbourhoods in Nampula province are without electricity, which could make it difficult to gather information. The lack of communication may be related to the effects of the cyclone. This situation is also being felt in Cabo Delgado province, especially in the districts of Pemba and Mecúfi,’ he said.
The airline LAM has already cancelled three flights to the northern region of Mozambique.
United Nations humanitarian support teams have been mobilised to Cabo Delgado as the cyclone approaches.
The Mozambican authorities admitted on Thursday that around 2.5 million people could be affected by Cyclone Chido in the provinces of Nampula and Cabo Delgado, but also pointed to the provinces of Zambézia and Tete, in the centre, and Niassa, in the north, as some that could also be affected by the bad weather.
Mozambique is considered one of the countries most severely affected by climate change in the world, facing cyclical floods and tropical cyclones during the rainy season, which runs from October to April.
The 2018/2019 rainy season was one of the most severe on record in Mozambique: 714 people died, including 648 victims of cyclones Idai and Kenneth, two of the biggest ever to hit the country.
In the first half of 2023, heavy rains and Cyclone Freddy caused 306 deaths, affected more than 1.3 million people, destroyed 236,000 homes and 3,200 classrooms, according to official government figures.
Lusa