MAPUTO (Reuters) – Mozambican authorities were moving people to shelters on Friday as tropical storm Freddy was due to make landfall later in the day.
Up to 1.75 million people could be affected by the storm and severe flooding, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on its website.
“In the coming days, very heavy rains are expected in Gaza, Manica, Maputo, Inhambane and Sofala provinces. The UN and our partners are supporting the government-led response. We are deploying staff to Inhambane and Gaza provinces and our teams are on standby to carry out needs assessments,” OCHA said.
Freddy hit Madagascar earlier this week as a tropical cyclone, destroying houses, displacing thousands and killing at least seven people.
It weakened as it passed over Madagascar before strengthening again in the Mozambique Channel.
In Zimbabwe, which is also expected to see heavy rain on Thursday and Friday, the education ministry has suspended school in six provinces.
Mozambique has already been battling severe flooding in recent days, and the government has declared a state of “red alert” to expedite operations to tackle Freddy.
(Reporting by Manuel Mucari in Maputo and Nyasha Chingono in Harare; Writing by Anait Miridzhanian; Editing by Alexander Winning and Alex Richardson)
