Counting hundreds dead and thousands displaced by last weeks’ deadly floodsKenya and Tanzania are on high alert today due to a cyclone heading towards their coasts in the Indian Ocean.
About 400 people have died in east Africa since March and tens of thousands have been displaced by torrential rains that have caused floods and landslides, swept away homes and destroyed roads and bridges. Tropical Cyclone Hindaya is expected to make landfall off the coast of Kenya and Tanzania over the weekend.
Kenyan President William Ruto described the weather forecast for the country as “terrible”, which will face the first cyclone in its history, and postponed indefinitely the reopening of schools that had been scheduled for Monday.
According to Ruto, the cyclone is “expected to cause torrential rains, strong winds and large, dangerous waves”.
In Kenya since March, at least 210 people have died and nearly 100 others are missing, with 165,000 people forced to flee their homes, according to government figures.
“No corner of our country has been spared from these disasters,” said the president. “Unfortunately, we have not seen the end of this dangerous period.”
Cyclone Hindaya will pack winds of 165 kilometers per hour when it makes landfall in neighboring Tanzania today, according to the regional weather center ICPAC.
Cyclone season in the southwest Indian Ocean is usually from November to April.
The Tanzania Meteorological Service said in a post on X today that the cyclone was last night about 125 kilometers from the country’s financial capital, Dar es Salaam, causing heavy rainfall accompanied by strong winds in several coastal areas. He also called on residents in the danger areas and shipping workers to take “the utmost precautions”.
At least 155 people have died in Tanzania in floods and landslides that have destroyed crops and swept away homes.
With information from APE
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