Nampula, Mozambique, March 12, 2025 (Lusa) - At least five roads and some bridges were damaged in Nampula province, in northern Mozambique, during the passage of tropical cyclone Jude, which has been affecting the country since Monday, official sources announced on Wednesday.
"The situation we're experiencing is chaotic. We have districts without land communication, we have bridges (...) already collapsed and others in danger," the governor of Nampula, Eduardo Abdula, told the media today.
According to Abdula, work has already begun to make the roads more passable in some regions affected by the cyclone, which entered Mozambique at dawn on Monday, through the Mossuril district of Nampula, causing six deaths and 20 injuries so far.
The report released today by the National Roads Administration (ANE) indicates that the roads affected include National Road number 1 (EN1), the longest in the country.
According to ANE, the sections that give access to the districts of Namialo, Malema, Lalaua and the towns of Namapa, Monapo, Quixaxe and Ribáuè were affected, where the bad weather caused aqueducts to collapse, earthworks to be washed away and some bridges to be destroyed, among other things.
The bad weather affected a total of 9,525 people, corresponding to 1,863 families, totally and partially destroying 1,899 houses, as well as nine health centres, four houses of worship and a public building.
By Tuesday, Jude had also affected 17,401 pupils, 264 teachers, 59 schools and 181 classrooms, all data corresponding to the provinces of Nampula and Niassa, in northern Mozambique, and Zambézia, in the centre of the country.
The tropical cyclone entered Mozambique at dawn on Monday, with winds of 140 kilometres per hour and gusts of up to 195 kilometres per hour, Manuel Francisco, a meteorologist at Mozambique's National Meteorological Institute (Inam), told Lusa.
Soon after entering the country, the cyclone " reverted to the stage of a severe tropical storm and over the next two days it could vary between a moderate and severe storm," said the meteorologist, adding that the system could also cause heavy rainfall of up to 250 millimetres in 24 hours.
The INGD (government institution responsible for coordinating disaster risk reduction activities) said on Sunday that the new cyclone could affect a total of 341,000 people, noting that the emergency operational committees have already been activated and that meetings are taking place between the government and partners to map out all the resources available to assist those affected.
Mozambique is in the middle of the rainy season, which runs from October to April, a period in which cyclones Chido and Dikeledi, which also affected the north of the country, have already been recorded.
The cyclones hit Mozambique between December last year and January, with the greatest impact on the provinces of Cabo Delgado and Nampula, affecting around 736,000 people and causing the destruction of public and private infrastructure.
Extreme events, such as cyclones and storms, caused at least 1,016 deaths in Mozambique between 2019 and 2023, affecting around 4.9 million people, according to data from the National Statistics Institute (INE).
The African country is considered one of the most severely affected by global climate change, facing cyclical floods and tropical cyclones during the rainy season, but also prolonged periods of severe drought.
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