MAPUTO, March 9 (Reuters) - Tropical cyclone Jokwe lashed nothern Mozambique on Sunday, killing at least one person and destroying over 500 homes, a meteorological official said. Mussa Mustafa, head of Mozambique's National Meteorological Institute, said the cyclone which swept through part of Madagascar last week, is expected to intensify by Monday. "Our (meteorological) colleagues in the coastal district of Angoche reported that one person died when his house collapsed, and we also have a number of houses which have been extensively damaged there", Mustafa told Reuters. Radio Mozambique reported that scores of people have fled their homes in the northern Nampula Province and national television broadcast footage of electricity pylons brought down by strong winds of up to 200 kph (125 miles). Mustafa said the risk of renewed flooding was small because the rains would hit coastal areas and flow into the ocean. Tens of thousands of people in Mozambique were forced to flee their homes earlier this year in what the United Nations said could be the worst floods in memory, engulfing farmland and wrecking roads and bridges. Last month Cyclone Ivan smashed Madagascar, killing more than 80 people and leaving over 200,000 homeless, but lost steam before striking Mozambique. (Reporting by Charles Mangwiro, writing by Marius Bosch)
Thick clouds of smoke rise over Mozambique's capital Maputo as protestors burn tyres on the streets February 5, 2008. One person was killed on Tuesday when police opened fire on a ...
