The death toll from tropical storm Ana that hit Mozambique on Tuesday rose to at least eight people, the country's National Institute for Disaster Management (INGD) said on Wednesday.

The storm made landfall in southeastern Africa on Monday and carried on through Tuesday with winds reaching up to 100 kilometers (62 miles) per hour, destroying buildings, disrupting infrastructure, forcing hundreds to flee their homes.

The INGD said that over 20,000 people were impacted and more than 3,000 homes were damaged in the storm. Various health centers and schools, along with hundreds of homes were completely destroyed.

Emergency relief needed

Naemi Heita, from the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Mozambique's capital Maputo, told Reuters that the country was in desperate need of clean drinking water, mosquito nets and masks.

"Beyond the emergency response we need to make sure that we support those families to rebuild their livelihoods — their fields are submerged and their houses are destroyed ... we need to support them to build back safer," she said.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs had warned ahead of the storm's arrival that it would potentially affect "highly vulnerable populations who have already suffered from previous natural disasters and conflict in northern Mozambique."

Widespread destruction

Over three people were reported to have died in neighboring Malawi, while flooding in Uganda killed nine people.

Unusually heavy rainfall has been hitting southern Africa for the past week, triggering floods in South Africa, Lesotho and Madagascar that have killed dozens of people.

According to data provided by the EU's Emergency Response Coordination Center, as of Tuesday, some 34 people had been killed by the storm in Madagascar while over 35,000 had been asked to leave their homes.

ab/msh (Reuters, dpa, AFP)