Mozambique braced for cyclone

Flood-ravaged Mozambique has been warned to brace for a tropical cyclone.

Cyclone Flavio is located in the Indian Ocean less than 125 miles from the Mozambican Channel and was intensifying, with winds forecast to strengthen to 100 miles an hour.

"We call upon authorities in the provinces of Sofala, Inhambane and Gaza to take preventive measures," said Acadio Tembe, a spokesman for the national meteorology agency.

Mozambique has already seen almost 90,000 people displaced and 40 killed by serious flooding in the Zambezi river valley, straining disaster relief efforts as officials battle to get food and clean water to people in evacuation shelters.

Mr Tembe said the cyclone could also affect Zambia, Malawi and parts of Zimbabwe if it struck land.

The Mozambican government has warned that as many as 285,000 people could be affected if the floods worsen and would need food, aid and other help, while many are already at risk from water-borne disease, malaria and hunger.

Destructive cyclones have regularly hit Mozambique in recent years and played a big role in one of the country's worst flood disasters in 2000-2001, which killed 7,000 people and made almost half a million homeless.

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