MAPUTO- A tropical storm that made landfall in Mozambique on Monday has killed two people and injured 66, the southern African country's disaster institute said, citing preliminary information.
The storm, called Ana, partially destroyed 546 homes and completely destroyed another 115, the National Institute for Management and Disaster Risk Reduction said in a statement.
It said six provinces were affected: Nampula, Zambezia, Tete, Niassa, Sofala and Manica.
Mozambique has been repeatedly struck by severe storms and cyclones in recent years that have destroyed infrastructure and displaced large numbers of people.
Experts say the storms have become stronger as waters have warmed due to climate change, while rising sea levels have made low-lying coastal areas vulnerable.
Mozambique's weather institute said on Tuesday that Ana had weakened from a "moderate tropical storm" into a "tropical depression".
The World Food Programme (WFP) told Reuters one of its main concerns was that heavy rainfall and flooding during the agriculture season could lead to harvests being lost, causing a substantial rise in food prices.
"Ana marks the beginning of the South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season, ... according to forecasts more intense weather events can be expected in the next few months," WFP said, adding it was ready to provide food to affected people and logistics support for rescue and relief operations.
In 2019, Cyclone Idai and the deadly floodwaters that followed it killed more than 1,000 people across Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe.
(Reporting by Manuel Mucari in Maputo and Alexander Winning in Johannesburg Editing by Alison Williams and Bernadette Baum) ((alexander.winning@tr.com; +27 10 346 1076))
