MAPUTO—Mozambicans took shelter on Friday as tropical storm Freddy made landfall in a small coastal town, with heavy rain expected to batter the country’s southern provinces for several days.
French weather forecaster Meteo France, which has a cyclone-monitoring station on the Indian Ocean island of La Reunion, said Freddy hit the coast near the tourist town of Vilankulo in Inhambane province around 2 p.m. local time (1200 GMT).
The situation was calm two hours later, with no casualties reported although trees and rooftops had fallen, said Vilankulo district administrator Edmundo Galiza Matos in a statement.
Pictures posted by Matos on Facebook showed children and adults sitting on the floor in a crowded primary school classroom. He said in the statement that 183 people had taken shelter there….