Tropical Storm Ana “another great disaster”, Catholic Bishop in Mozambique Says

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) announced that the storm evolved from a low-pressure system, which initially formed over the East Coast of Madagascar, making landfall in Angoche district, Nampula Province, on January 24.

The UN agency predicted that heavy rains and strong winds would affect the Northern and Central Mozambican Provinces of Nampula, Zambezia, Sofala, Manica, Tete, Niassa and Cabo Delgado “in the coming days”.  

“Tropical storm Ana is expected to cause displacement, flooding, and infrastructures’ damages in the affected provinces, potentially impacting on highly vulnerable populations who have already suffered from previous natural disasters and conflict in northern Mozambique,” OCHA stated.

According to the UN agency, an estimated 500,000 people may be impacted across the three Provinces of Nampula, Zambezia and Sofala, including 120,000 women and girls of reproductive age (aged 10-49) and 14,000 pregnant women. 

“In Nampula alone, the storm could potentially affect up to 100,000 people in the coastal districts of the province, while the connection between Nampula Sede and Angoche has already been interrupted due to the overflow of the Luazi River,” the UN humanitarian department stated.  

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The leadership of ACN Portugal reports that in addition to the Diocese of Nacala, the Archdiocese of Nampula has also been in the path of the winds and rain, with reports of destruction of hundreds of houses, schools, health centers and the fall of structures of the electricity grid.

The Local Ordinary of Nampula Archdiocese, Archbishop Inácio Saúre, also reported to the charity foundation of “a difficult situation” that the people are facing.

Archbishop Saúre described “a continuous rain” in the city of Nampula, which was without power for hours, although the wind intensity was not yet “very strong”.

The Mozambican Archbishop, a member of the Consolata Missionaries (IMC), told the charity foundation that the situation was, however, different in the coastal region. He said, “In the coastal districts it is that, in fact, the thing is very serious.”

On his part, Bishop Alberto of Nacala is said to have described the early hours of January 24 as a scenario of “strong rains with a lot of wind in the Island of Moçamique and in the district of Mossuril”.

In the city of Nacala, the member of the Order of Our Lady of Mercy (O. de M.) further said that the population was sheltering at home waiting for the passage “of the strong gale with rain.”

“May God protect us and watch over us,” the Spanish-born Bishop implored.

The leadership of ACN reports that the passage of Tropical Storm Ana was preceded, between January 14th and 17th, by a period of bad weather in the Cabo Delgado region, further north, with reports of destruction of hundreds of precarious houses.

Fr. Edegard Silva, a Brazilian missionary, said that on the night of January 19, people were displaced in the region of Mieze in the Catholic Diocese of Pemba, where he was. He said, “Here it rains a lot, torrential. My God, what will become of the displaced.”

“A year ago, precisely in January, Mozambique saw the passage of Cyclone Eloise, which then affected nearly 300,000 people and caused 12 deaths,” the leadership of ACN Portugal reports, and adds, “Between the years 2018 and 2019, cyclones Idai and Kenneth were even more severe causing hundreds of deaths and leaving an impressive trail of destruction.”

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Agnes Aineah is a Kenyan journalist with a background in digital and newspaper reporting. She holds a Master of Arts in Digital Journalism from the Aga Khan University, Graduate School of Media and Communications and a Bachelor's Degree in Linguistics, Media and Communications from Kenya's Moi University. Agnes currently serves as a journalist for ACI Africa.