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(Preliminary reports Mozambique: Cyclone Eloise kills 6, 12 injured, displaces 8 300. 5000 houses destroyed. More than 176 000 affected, 142 000 hectares of crops affected)

(Preliminary reports Zimbabwe: Cyclone Eloise kills 3, at least 10 injured, more than 20 houses destroyed, CPU still collating data for crops and number of people affected)

(SA and Botswana – no major deaths, injuries and damages reported)

Sifelani Tsiko Agric, Environment & Innovations Editor
Cyclone Eloise which battered Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Botswana recently has left scores of people dead, crops and infrastructural damage running into thousands of dollars as fresh reports of the impact filter in from the affected countries.

The tropical cyclone hit Mozambique a few days ago bringing rain and powerful winds of around 130 kilometres per hour.

Preliminary reports from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) show that in Mozambique, where Tropical Cyclone Eloise made landfall on 23 January, left six people dead, 12 injured and affected more than 176 000 mainly in Buzi, Dondo, Nhamatanda and Beira City.

About 8 300 people were displaced and more than 5 000 houses were destroyed, damaged or flooded in Mozambique. In Zimbabwe, which was the second most affected country, the tropical storm left 2 people dead and least 10 others injured.

Civil Protection Unit preliminary estimates show that more than 20 houses were damaged while several roads and bridges were damaged in Zimbabwe.

Schools and clinics and other critical infrastructure was also damaged in various parts of Zimbabwe. Figures on the extent of the damage caused by the cyclone could rise as the full extent of the damage becomes known. However, the extent of the damage is unlike to surpass that of Cyclone Idai of 2019.

It’s the same areas that were hit by Tropical Storm Chalane three weeks ago and devastated by Cyclone Idai less than two years ago in both Mozambique and Zimbabwe.