The incursion of Cyclone Jude into Mozambique has created grave apprehensions, particularly for the well-being of children, as floods amplify the peril of contracting insidious waterborne diseases such as cholera, diarrhea, and malaria, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
The afflicted provinces house the densest populace of children within the nation, exacerbating the cyclone’s ramifications to an alarming degree.
In response, UNICEF is expediting the dissemination of indispensable provisions to embattled communities while striving to uphold the sanctity of emergency shelters.
Credit: AFP
Cyclone Jude surged through Mozambique during the nascent hours of Monday, unleashing tempestuous gusts reaching velocities of 120 kilometres per hour.
This formidable tropical tempest carved its trajectory proximate to Nacala, an urban centre nestled within Nampula province, unleashing a maelstrom of ferocious winds and torrential downpours.
A proactive intervention was instigated through the mobilisation of the Mozambique Anticipatory Action (AA) Framework for Cyclones, enabling the expedited allocation of financial reserves from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF).
These resources were swiftly apportioned among humanitarian entities, facilitating pre-emptive relief measures a full three days before the cyclone’s terrestrial onslaught.
However, the humanitarian infrastructure is currently grappling with an acute overextension, as it simultaneously contends with the residual exigencies wrought by two preceding cyclones—Cyclone Chido in December 2024 and Cyclone Dikeledi in January 2025—compounded by additional adversities, including an escalating cholera outbreak, pervasive food insecurity, sociopolitical tumult, and entrenched conflicts.
Given the prevailing contraction in global humanitarian financing, the procurement of requisite resources remains an onerous endeavour in an already beleaguered landscape.
Jude is forecast to move southwestwards across northern Mozambique and circulate near southern Malawi’s border until the early morning of March 12 and, after that, it will change direction moving southeast across central Mozambique.
