Tropical Cyclone Jude has claimed at least nine lives in Mozambique and Malawi, with thousands displaced due to severe flooding, officials confirmed on Thursday.
According to Mozambique’s National Institute for Disaster Risk Management and Reduction (INGD), the cyclone killed six people, injured 20, and displaced 9,525 across the northern provinces of Nampula and Niassa, as well as the central province of Zambezia.
In Malawi, authorities reported three fatalities and 20,000 people left homeless in the southern region, where heavy rains triggered widespread flooding.
Relief Efforts Face Challenges
The cyclone made landfall in northern Mozambique early Sunday before moving into southern Malawi, causing devastation from Monday to Wednesday. Relief operations have been hindered by damaged infrastructure, with roads and bridges washed away, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported.
This disaster comes just months after Cyclone Chido struck both countries in December, killing 73 people in Mozambique and 13 in Malawi. Rescue efforts are ongoing as authorities work to provide aid to those affected.