JOHANNESBURG: A powerful storm nearing Mozambique is expected to intensify into a tropical cyclone on Friday, according to forecasts, dumping rain onto already swollen rivers in an area devastated by Cyclone Idai less than two years ago.
Tropical Storm Eloise, currently over the Mozambique channel whose warm Indian Ocean waters fuel its strength, could develop into a category 3 tropical cyclone, Mozambique’s National Meteorological Institute (INAM) said.
Cyclones and flash floods, which used to batter this stretch of southeast African coastline only rarely, have become a regular occurrence as warmer waters linked to global warming from greenhouse gas emissions cause stronger storms while rising seas make low-lying coastlines vulnerable to them, experts say.
INAM said Eloise, due to make landfall on Saturday, could pack winds of up to 140 kmh (87 mph) and deliver 200 millimetres (7.87 inches) of rain in 24 hours. This has raised fears of widespread flooding like that which killed…