Cyclone Kenneth: Rescuers struggle against catastrophic flooding in Mozambique

Villages 'look like they have been run over with a bulldozer,’ UN official says

At least five people have been killed after a cyclone swept through northern Mozambique, flattening villages, crushing houses and flooding streets.

Rising waters were making it difficult for rescuers to evacuate people in the east African nation's Cabo Delgado region after Cyclone Kenneth made landfall last week.

Winds hit 174 miles per hour when it made landfall.

Aerial photos showed that some villages had been “entirely wiped out”, said Gemma Connell, head of the United Nations' Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

“They look like they have been run over with a bulldozer,” she added.

The storm arrived shortly after Mozambique had been devastated by Cyclone Idai in March. It killed more than 1,000 people, destroyed property and crops and unleashed a cholera outbreak.

Forecasters warned that Cyclone Kenneth could bring twice as much rain to the country.

Shortly after Kenneth made landfall, homes started to collapse in the Natite neighbourhood in the city of Pemba, one of the worst-affected areas, according to OCHA.

Residents tried to bail floodwater out of their houses, while others piled sandbags outside their doors and rescue workers evacuated at least 130 people to centres on Sunday, mostly by boat.

The city is at risk of being cut off from the rest of the country, they warned.

The UN said 1.8m people in the country require aid.

It is the first time on record that two such powerful cyclones have hit Mozambique in such a short space of time.

Additional reporting by agencies