The second cyclone to hit Mozambique this season began to lose strength Saturday, with the region, still recovering from a 2019 cyclone, still faced with the threat of flooding.
Though Cyclone Eloise relented in force after it made landfall, electricity and communications infrastructure were still taken out by the cyclone in the central city of Beira and surrounding areas, The Associated Press reports.
“The Vodacom network registered a temporary interruption … cutting off communication for users in the whole of the city of Beira and in certain districts of the province of Sofala,” read a statement from Vodacom.
Just in case, power was turned off by electric company EDM after water entered a Beira substation, according to local outlet Carta de Mocambique.
Having witnessed the destruction of Idai, “People now know what a cyclone is and they take it seriously,” according to resident Ben Van Wyk, who lauded Mayor Daviz Simango as “a master of preparation.”
Flooding remains a concern though, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, which previously warned that 100,000 people or more could be affected by Eloise, the second cyclone since last month’s Chalane.
“Heavy rainfall will persist for over 24 hours,” said the IFRC, noting there would be enough rainfall “to flood low areas of Beira and Buzi.”
The Red Cross also warned of possible additional flooding in coming days “as accumulated water flows down the Pungue and Buzi Rivers from Zimbabwe” and anticipates 400,000 people will be affected when “torrential rains immediately flood low areas of Beira, Buzi, Nhamatanda, Chibabava and Sussundenga.”
Because of the water that will build up in Zimbabwe and flow downstream, the IFRC warned there will be larger “flooded areas for several days.”
With News Wire Services
