Cyclone Favio heads for Zim
2007-02-23 15:40
Maputo - Cyclone Favio, which left a trail of destruction after sweeping through parts of Mozambique, was downgraded on Friday to a tropical depression as it moved towards neighbouring Zimbabwe.
Chief forecaster in the national meteorological office, Helder Sueia said: "It is no longer a cyclone, it is now a tropical depression.
"The winds are strong, between 60-80kph. It is travelling northwest to Zimbabwe."
Heavy rains and strong winds continued to lash Nhamatanda in Sofala province, and the eastern part of Zimbabwe could expect heavy rains.
Mozambique's Noticias newspaper said 17 people had been injured as a result of the cyclone on Thursday in a country still reeling from recent floods which left 80 000 homeless and about 30 dead.
UN Childrens Fund spokesperson Thierry Delvijne-Jean said a Unicef team reported widespread damage to infrastructure in the area of Vilankulo, about 800km northeast of Maputo.
Delvijne-Jean said hospitals and schools had been damaged while up to 80% of flimsily-built homes in the town of Vilankulo had been all or partially destroyed.
'Survival kits'
He added: "We will send a team this morning to see the situation and identify the needs of the population."
Emergency material that had been stored in a Maputo warehouse for victims of the flooding, such as chlorine, water, tarpaulin sheets and basic survival kits would be handed out to victims of the cyclone.
Favio was classified as a category four cyclone which means that it can generate winds of about 200kph.
The impact of the cyclone was expected to be devastating for victims of the recent flooding, especially in the sodden region of Caia.
It was too early to say what the impact on the area had been, Delvijne-Jean said, adding that water levels had subsided slightly and the current focus was on managing the camp where flood victims were being housed in tents.
Deluges in Mozambique in 2000-2001 claimed more than 700 lives. The southern African country's peak rainfall season is from the end of February to early March.