Ottawa: Ottawa’s mayor declared a state of emergency in the Canadian capital in anticipation of rising flood waters and heavy rains. No homes have been evacuated, but authorities expect waters along the Ottawa River to rise above levels in 2017 that saw the worst floods in Eastern Canada in half a century. Environment Canada issued a special weather alert predicting up to 35mm of rain by Saturday morning.
Together with the snowmelt that feeds the river, waters are expected to rise up to 11 cms above peak levels reached in May 2017. In addition to assistance from Ontario with management of the emergency situation, some 400 troops will be deployed on Friday to key areas to help fill sandbags.
Meanwhile in northern Mozambique, cyclone Kenneth made landfall only a month after another huge storm battered the coastal nation. The category 4 cyclone brought 220kmph winds and killed three people on the island of Comoros on Thursday. Over 6,80,000 people were said to be at risk.
There is no previous record of hurricane-force systems ever hitting the region so far north before, BBC Weather reported. It was expected to weaken as it moved inland. A “compulsory evacuation” of families was underway and would continue “until we have all people in secure ground”, INGC spokesman Paulo Tomas said.
