Africa News reports that residents of Beira, in Mozambique, expressed relief at the weekend, that Cyclone Eloise had caused less damage than had been feared. This was despite severe winds and heavy rains having damaged thousands of buildings, ruined crops and some 7 000 people having been displaced in the country. Almost 137 000 hectares of crops have been ruined, and nine schools destroyed. 17 other schools and 11 hospitals had also been damaged.

The Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies had been concerned that at least 100 000 people would be impacted by the arrival of Cyclone Eloise.

Gorkhmaz Huseynov, the head of the Mozambican Red Cross, said, “There have been floods, but we have been kind of lucky that the speed of the wind has not been as high as we were anticipating. It usually brings a lot of destruction.” He added, “However, there has been a lot of water on the ground, so the floods have been there and the telecommunication system has been disrupted.”

Africa News reports that the eye of Eloise passed over Beira before dawn on Saturday, before losing force after making landfall. Nevertheless, power and communications infrastructure in Beira, and surrounding areas was lost.

Meanwhile, electricity company, EDM, said it had turned off the power, following water having seeped into a substation in Beira, as a precautionary measure.

Eloise is the second cyclone to have hit central Mozambique this season, with Cyclone Chalane having struck just in December. In 2019, several hundred people were killed by Cyclone Idai killed, and well over 100,000 others were displaced.

Umm Muhammed Umar