That two fierce tropical cyclones, Idai and Kenneth, hit central and northern Mozambique only five weeks apart in March and April 2019 was particularly brutal. They killed hundreds, devastated the central city of Beira and affected the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, destroying livelihoods, homes and infrastructure as they ripped a route into the interior.
This highlights the vulnerability of Mozambique, and its inland neighbours Zimbabwe and Malawi, to a cycle of evermore severe and unpredictable weather. Cyclone Kenneth also struck the Comoros Islands and southern Tanzania. A tropical cyclone has never been known so far north in the Indian Ocean before.
