By AccuWeather meteorologist
Published Mar. 14, 2022 12:02 PM EDT | Updated Mar. 14, 2022 12:02 PM EDT
Less than two months removed from Cyclone Ana's destruction, another powerful tropical cyclone has devastated portions of Mozambique in southeastern Africa. Cyclone Gombe made landfall early Friday morning, local time, killing at least 12 people and injuring another 40 on its journey inland.
Gombe reached land as the equivalent strength of a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale in the Atlantic or East Pacific basins. The cyclone had a 10-minute sustained wind speed average of 104 mph (167 km/h) as it slammed onshore 31 miles (50 km) south of the island of Mozambique.
Footage of the cyclone's aftermath showed homes leveled, trees uprooted, sheet metal roofs twisted and chunks of asphalt completely stripped away. The provinces of Nampula and Zambezia have sustained the most significant damage, according to early reports.
The number of homes destroyed has exceeded 3,000 with more than 30,000 people affected by Gombe's destructive wind and heavy rain, according to AFP. Oceanfront homes were seen precariously balancing on the edge of cliffs in the port city of Nacala, the news agency said.
Quelimane, a city located along Mozambique's central coast and home to nearly 350,000 people, received 8.59 inches (218.3 mm) from the storm spanning Friday to Monday, local time.
A view of the destruction caused by Cyclone Gombe in Mozambique.
In Nampula, where significant destruction occurred during Ana's rampage in late January, eight shelters opened their door to house those left homeless, AFP reported.
Local officials report that the agricultural fields in the region, which the locals depend on for food, have taken a significant hit with some rendered "useless."
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While Gombe is no longer a tropical entity, forecasters say an unsettled weather pattern will remain in place across Mozambique through the rest of the week, with each day bringing renewed downpours. This additional rainfall can not only lead to incidents of flooding but also tack on additional hardships for those left combing the rubble and cleaning up debris.
Gombe is just the latest cyclone to impact this part of the world in what has been a busy stretch of tropical activity in the southwestern Indian Ocean.
Cyclone Batsirai delivered a crushing blow to Mozambique's eastern neighbor of Madagascar during the early part of February. In mid-February, Tropical Storm Dumako crossed Madagascar and later made landfall near Quelimane, Mozambique. Intense Tropical Cyclone Emanti then followed, sweeping through southern Madagascar before turning southward away from land.
The Southwest Indian Ocean tropical season begins in the middle of November and does not officially end until the end of April.
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