JOHANNESBURG (AP) – The Mozambican port city of Beira breathed a sigh of relief on Saturday as Cyclone Eloise caused less damage than feared as it passed, but the danger of flooding persisted in a region still recovering from a devastating cyclone two year ago.
“We all feel that it is much less than we expected,” said Kobus Botha, head of the agricultural and logistics company Servir. “If you remember in (Cyclone) Idai we all said, ‘It’s not easy,’ but 24 hours later the great waters came.” Idai killed hundreds of people and more than 100,000 displaced people in 2019.
Ahead of the cyclone’s arrival, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies warned that at least 100,000 people will be affected.
“Heavy rains will last for more than 24 hours,” he said. “The amount of rain will be enough to flood the low parts of Beira and Buzi. Further flooding may occur a few days later as the collected water from Zimbabwe flows through the Pungue and Buzi rivers. “
In a more likely scenario, the IFRC expects 400,000 people to be affected as “torrential rains immediately engulf the low areas of Beira, Buzi, Nhamatanda, Chibabava and Sussundenga. The accumulation of water in Zimbabwe will flow downstream, increasing the flooded areas for several days. “
The eye of the storm crossed Beira on Saturday before sunrise, after it had already caused heavy rains in Zambezia province and its capital, Quelimane. The cyclone lost power after it made landfall, but took down electricity and communications infrastructure in Beira, a city of about half a million people, and surrounding areas.
“The Vodacom network registered a temporary interruption … which cut communication for users across the city of Beira and in certain districts of Sofala province,” Vodacom said in a statement.
Electricity company EDM said it turned off the power as a precaution after water entered a substation in Beira, Carta de Mocambique reported.
“If you look into the distance from here, you can see roofing sheets all over the place,” said Beira resident Ben Van Wyk. “But the mayor (Daviz Simango) was a master of preparation. Yesterday all of Beira put sandbags on their roof, ”while the municipal authorities turned a blind eye to the removal of sand from the beach.
Eloise is the second cyclone to hit central Mozambique this season, after Chalane in December. But since Idai, “people now know what a cyclone is and they take it seriously,” said Van Wyk.