Cyclone Kenneth likely to hit Tanzania, Mozambique this week

AccuWeather has warned of new cyclone in the southern Indian Ocean that may hit parts of Mozambique and Tanzania later this week.

The tropical storm will be named Kenneth and contains sustained winds of 63-87 km/h (39-54 mph).

According to Meteo France, the French national meteorological service, Kenneth underwent additional strengthening on Tuesday, and has been rated a moderate tropical storm. But a moderate tropical storm is equal to a tropical storm in the Atlantic and East Pacific oceans.

“Further strengthening is possible into Thursday as the storm approaches the southern coast of Tanzania and northern coast of Mozambique,” AccuWeather says.

“Landfall of Kenneth could occur as early as midday Thursday near the border of Tanzania and Mozambique. If Kenneth tracks slower and has more time to strengthen, landfall may not occur until Thursday night,” report adds.

Accuweather further states Kenneth will enhance rainfall across far northern Madagascar into Wednesday.

The new cyclone comes a month after the southern Africa region was hit by Cyclone Idai leaving a trail of destruction and over 1,000 people dead in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe.

In Mozambique, Cyclone Idai made a landfall on March 14 killing 602 people and left 1,641 injured.

The storm then hit eastern Zimbabwe on March 16 where 344 people died and 200 others were left nursing injuries.

Malawi was also affected by the heavy rains and flooding as a result of Cyclone Idai where 60 people died and 672 were injured.