Cyclone Kenneth death toll rises to 38 in Mozambique

The death toll caused by Cyclone Kenneth in Mozambique's northernmost Cabo Delgado province has risen to 38 and 39 others were wounded, announced the authorities on Monday.

A press release by the National Disaster Management Institute (INGC) said nearly 35,000 homes were partially or totally destroyed and 31,256 hectares of crops affected by Cyclone Kenneth, which hit the province on April 25 with devastating storms and rains.

Thirty accommodation centers have already been set up throughout the province, which sheltered more than 2,000 people, and some 300 people from the flooded districts of Macomia, Ibo and Quissanga were rescued, the release said.

Saviano Abreu, a coordinator from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told reporters in a briefing in Cabo Delgado that bad weather still hampered the delivery of supplies to affected areas.

"The plan of the government and humanitarian organizations for today (Monday) was to lift supplies using boats but it has not been possible so far due to bad weather," said the coordinator.

National meteorological institute reported that there is still a threat of heavy rains across the province.

Cyclone Kenneth made landfall only six weeks after Cyclone Idai struck the central region of the country with deadly winds and floods, leaving more than 600 people dead, socio and economic infrastructures compromised and hundreds of thousands displaced.

The authorities announced the cholera treatment center would be reactivated in Pemba, the provincial capital of Cabo Delgado.