The cyclone hit Kenya and Tanzania, already hit by floods

Alarm in two neighboring East African countries. Beaches were deserted and many shops closed on Saturday in Kenya and Tanzania as heavy rains and tropical cyclones battered coastal areas.

Kenya and Tanzania are on alert for Cyclone Hidaya after weeks of heavy rain and flooding that devastated many parts of East Africa and killed more than 400 people.

However, as of Saturday afternoon, there were no reports of casualties or damage as the cyclone made landfall in Tanzania from the Indian Ocean.

“It’s so strange to see so few people on the beach today, we are used to seeing crowds of people, especially on weekends,” said Yusuf Hassan, a resident of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s main city. “People are scared.”

Waves over two meters.

The Kenya Meteorological Department said in a bulletin on Saturday that the effects of the cyclone were already being felt at sea, with wind speeds exceeding 75 km/h and waves exceeding 2 meters.

Heavy rain along the Indian Ocean coast is expected from Sunday and is expected to intensify over the next two days, he warned.

“Current observations indicate that Tropical Cyclone Hidaya has made landfall on the coast of Tanzania. But behind this another depression develops,” he added. Tanzanian authorities did not immediately confirm this information.

Kenyan Home Affairs Minister Kithure Kindiki announced a ban on all types of beach activities, swimming and fishing.

Calls for caution

The Tanzania Meteorological Department noted strong winds and heavy rainfall along the coast overnight on Saturday.

In the Mtwara region, 75.5 mm of rain fell in 12 hours, while the average rainfall for May is 54 mm. The Tanzania agency asked residents in risk areas and people working in the maritime sector to take “maximum precautions.”

The cyclone is expected to peak with gusts of 165 km/h after landfall, regional climate center ICPAC said on Friday.

All maritime transport has been suspended in the Zanzibar archipelago. “We believe it is unsafe to travel in these weather conditions caused by the cyclone,” Sheikha Ahmed Mohamed, director general of the Zanzibar Maritime Authority, told AFP.

“Terrible” weather forecast

The cyclone season in the southwest Indian Ocean typically runs from November to April, with about a dozen storms occurring each year.

Kenyan President William Ruto on Friday deemed weather forecasts “dire” for the country as it faces its first-ever cyclone and postponed indefinitely the reopening of schools scheduled for Monday.

Nearly 400 people have died in East Africa since March and tens of thousands have been forced from their homes by heavy rains that have caused floods and landslides, swept away homes and destroyed roads and bridges.

In Kenya during this period, at least 210 people died, about 100 more went missing and 165,000 people were forced to flee their homes, according to official figures. “Not a single corner of our country has escaped this devastation,” the president concluded.

The Interior Ministry on Thursday ordered anyone living near major rivers or near 178 “dams or reservoirs that are full or nearly full of water” to leave the area within 24 hours. Kithure Kindiki said 138 camps had been set up to provide temporary shelter for more than 62,000 people displaced by the floods.

Members of the opposition and civil society accused the government of being unprepared to deal with the crisis despite weather warnings. At least 155 people have died in Tanzania due to floods and landslides.

East Africa is highly vulnerable to climate change, and rainfall in the region has increased this year due to El Niño, a natural climate phenomenon usually associated with global warming that causes droughts in some parts of the world and heavy rainfall in other parts of the world.