Death toll rises to 38 in Mozambique after cyclone

The number of people killed after Cyclone Kenneth slammed into Mozambique has jumped from five to 38, the country's disaster management institute said on Monday.

The United Nations (UN) will grant Mozambique and the Comoros Islands $13 million in emergency funds to help provide food and water and repair damage to infrastructure, the organisation said late on Sunday, after the second cyclone in a month slammed into the region.

"This new allocation of Central Emergency Response Fund funds will help humanitarian partners to scale up the response to address the needs of those most vulnerable in the aftermath of Cyclone Kenneth," said UN Humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock in a statement.

Cyclone Kenneth crashed into the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado late on Thursday, flattening entire villages with winds of up to 280 km/h, unleashing heavy rains and flooding that has seen rivers burst their banks.

TRT World's Natasha Hussain reports.

Kenneth arrived just six weeks after Cyclone Idai ripped into central Mozambique and killed more than 600 people with flooding. The new storm's remnants could dump twice as much rain as Idai, the UN World Programme has said. 

As much as 250 millimetres or about a quarter of the average annual rainfall for the region, had been forecast over the next few days.

This was the first time in recorded history that the southern African nation has been hit by two cyclones in one season, again raising concerns about climate change.

TRT World speaks to Gregor von Medeazza from UNICEF.