Mozambique’s main rail line for its top export of coal halted operations this week because of a tropical cyclone that also cut off a national highway.
Nacala Logistics, which operates the railway linking coal mines in the central Tete province to the port of Nacala, said it paused trains on March 10, when Tropical Cyclone Jude made landfall in the southeast African nation, bringing torrential rainfall and damaging winds. Technical teams were on site to clear debris from the tracks, it said in a statement.
Flood damage cut off the N1 highway that hauliers use to access Nacala, Mozambique’s roads authority said in a statement. It’s working to repair the damaged sections as the rain continues, it said.
The cyclone struck Mozambique while it’s still struggling to recuperate from two other storms that ravaged its northern coast in December and January. The damage is another setback for one of the world’s poorest nations that’s still recovering from the worst political unrest in decades following its disputed October elections.
At least nine people have died because of Jude, Mozambique’s disaster management agency said. The storm has now left Mozambique as it moved back over the ocean toward southern Madagascar. 