Barely a month ago, Cyclone Idai struck Mozambique’s port city of Beira with superpowerful winds then moved inland to Zimbabwe and Malawi, flattening buildings and putting the lives of millions at risk. The catastrophic cyclone left 185 people dead and more than 16,000 people displaced from their homes.
In the recent prediction a deadlier tropical cyclone named Kenneth, a Category 4 storm bearing down on Mozambique, is set to make landfall later in the day in East Africa. Cyclone Kenneth could be the strongest cyclone ever recorded to make landfall in this region predicted to hit Tanzania, bringing winds of up to 200km/h (124 mph) and torrential rain according to forecasts.
According to the weatherman, the current widespread rains in the country is expected to reduce in intensity towards the second week of May with heavy downpour and flooding expected this week in some parts of the country. Following the speculation that cyclone Kenneth may hit the Coastal region, Kenyans are getting cold feet, with fear that they could be victims.
Kenya Meteorological Department through its Twitter handle has however rubbished the news confirming that the cyclones cannot come too close to the equator, urging Kenyans to keep calm and ignore the malicious speculations.
It is FALSE that cyclone Kenneth will hit the Kenyan Coast. By the laws of physics, Cyclones cannot come this close to the equator. Landfall will be northern Mozambique as shown in the satellite image. pic.twitter.com/xuYRgfbDCA
— Kenya Met Department (@MeteoKenya) April 25, 2019
Cyclone Kenneth will be the second to hit southern Africa in barely two months after Cyclone Idai ravaged the region in March and left more than 1,000 people dead in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi.