'Unprecedented, catastrophic:' Cyclone Kenneth slams into storm-battered Mozambique

Doyle Rice
Updated

Cyclone Kenneth slammed into northeastern Mozambique on Thursday, only six weeks after Cyclone Idai ravaged the African nation, killing hundreds of people and leaving much of the countryside in ruins.

In a hit that the Weather Channel called "unprecedented and catastrophic," Kenneth made landfall near Pemba with maximum sustained winds of 136 mph, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center said.

A cyclone is the same type of storm as a hurricane or typhoon; the designation depends on where in the world they occur. Kenneth's wind speed at landfall was the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane.

Kenneth is the first cyclone of that strength to hit that part of Mozambique since accurate records began 60 years ago, AccuWeather said. This is also the first time the impoverished nation has been hit twice in one season.

Kenneth ranks among the strongest landfalls on record for the entire African mainland, Weather Underground meteorologist Robert Henson said.

A man stands on fallen trees which damaged his home in Moroni, Comoros, Thursday, April 25, 2019, after Cyclone Kenneth hit the island nation of Comoros.
A man stands on fallen trees which damaged his home in Moroni, Comoros, Thursday, April 25, 2019, after Cyclone Kenneth hit the island nation of Comoros.

Although strong winds were an issue at landfall, "the real concern over the coming days will be extreme rainfall flooding," according to the Capital Weather Gang. "Up to 40 inches is possible, which would be devastating."

Cyclone Idai, which hit on March 15, 2019, was “one of the deadliest storms on record in the Southern Hemisphere,” the United Nations said.

The official death toll for Idai on April 23 stood at 1,007, with 602 killed in Mozambique, 344 in Zimbabwe, 60 in Malawi and one in Madagascar, the Weather Channel reported.

Idai's effects in Mozambique will be felt for months, if not years. Even as authorities say a cholera outbreak is being contained, malaria is a growing concern. More than 14,800 cases have been reported in the past month in the hard-hit province of Sofala alone.

Hundreds of thousands of people could also face hunger in the months ahead.

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Unprecedented, catastrophic:' Cyclone Kenneth slams into storm-battered Mozambique