Prior to making landfall in Mozambique, Tropical Cyclone Kenneth passed through the Comoros, hitting the northern Ngazidja Island on 24 April and reportedly causing four deaths, over 200 people wounded and extensive damage to houses, including 3,818 completely destroyed and 7,013 partially destroyed. Tropical Cyclone Kenneth has been classified as a Category 4 Cyclone and reached a maximum wind speed of 231 km/h as of 25 April in Comoros, the winds intensified around 9 p.m. on Wednesday, causing widespread power outages in the capital Moroni and on the other two main islands of the archipelago, Anjouan and Ngazidja. An estimates 45,000 people are in need of assistance, including 15,000 people internally displaced (IDPs).
Flooding has occurred in high risk areas of the entire archipelago, mainly on the costal lines. Water tanks have lost their covers and are polluted with garbage blown in by the fierce winds or filled with sea water in many villages and the risk of contracting water-borne diseases. The priority focus of the response remains on health, wash, education, food, and shelter. An estimated 60 – 80 per cent of the staple crops have been destroyed.

Humanitarian organisations have deployed teams in both locations to respond and carry out rapid assessments.

An UNDAC team has deployed on 29 April to Moroni. The UNDAC Team Leader is Pierre Gelas from OCHA Regional Office for Eastern and Southern Africa (gelas@un.org)

For specific messages concerning potential deployment of Emergency Medical Teams, kindly refer to the section on "EMT Coordination Cell" below.