Mozambicans seek shelter, Beira port closed as storm Freddy nears

[February 24, 2023]   MAPUTO (Reuters) -Mozambique's authorities urged people to seek shelter and the country's major Beira port was closed on Friday, as tropical storm Freddy was forecast to make landfall imminently.

A man walks as Cyclone Freddy makes landfall over Vilankulos, Mozambique, February 24, 2023. UNICEF Mozambique/223/Alfredo Zuniga/via REUTERS

French weather forecaster Meteo France, which has a cyclone-monitoring station on the Indian Ocean island of La Reunion, said Freddy was expected to make landfall near the tourist town of Vilankulo in Mozambique's southern Inhambane province around midday.

Edmundo Galiza Matos Junior, a local official in Vilankulo, posted a picture on Facebook showing people taking shelter in a school and a video showing strong winds battering the coast.

Cornelder de Moçambique, a company that operates cargo terminals in Beira port, said in a statement that the port would be closed until 1900 local time (1700 GMT) on Friday, subject to the weather conditions improving.

Up to 1.75 million people could be affected by the storm and severe flooding, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on its website.

"In the coming days, very heavy rains are expected in Gaza, Manica, Maputo, Inhambane and Sofala provinces. The UN and our partners are supporting the government-led response. We are deploying staff to Inhambane and Gaza provinces and our teams are on standby to carry out needs assessments," OCHA said.

Freddy hit Madagascar earlier this week as a tropical cyclone, destroying houses, displacing thousands and killing at least seven people.

It weakened as it passed over Madagascar before strengthening again in the Mozambique Channel.

In Zimbabwe, which is also expected to see heavy rain from Freddy, the education ministry has suspended school in six provinces.

Mozambique has already been battling severe flooding in recent days, and the government has declared a state of "red alert" to expedite operations to tackle Freddy.

Meteo France said after making landfall Freddy is expected to weaken, but that the rains it would cause over southern Mozambique, southeast Zimbabwe and northeast South Africa would pose a threat.

(Reporting by Manuel Mucari in Maputo and Nyasha Chingono in Harare; Writing by Anait Miridzhanian; Editing by Alexander Winning and Susan Fenton)

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