Tropical Cyclone Jude kills 9 people in Mozambique, Malawi

LILONGWE, Malawi

At least nine people in total have been killed by Tropical Cyclone Jude in Mozambique and Malawi, officials said Thursday.

According to the National Institute for Disaster Risk Management and Reduction (INGD) in Mozambique, the cyclone killed six people, injured 20 and displaced 9,525 in the provinces of Nampula and Niasa in the north of the county and the central province of Zambezia.

In neighboring Malawi, three people were reported dead, while 20,000 have been rendered homeless in the southern region of the country, where the cyclone caused heavy flooding.

Chiphiliro Khamula, a spokesperson for the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA) in Malawi, told Anadolu that those displaced are being sheltered in evacuation centers.

The cyclone made landfall in northern Mozambique early Sunday and moved to southern Malawi, causing heavy flooding from Monday to Wednesday.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said relief operations were being hampered by a lack of access to roads and bridges which have been washed away.

In December last year, Cyclone Chido hit both countries, killing 73 people in Mozambique and 13 in Malawi.