Some 300,000 families were reported to be without power in the northern region of Nampula due to cyclone Gombe, which hit the East African country of Mozambique on the Indian Ocean coast.

Mozambique's State Electricity Company announced that power was not available in the 20 districts of Nampula as the cyclone severely damaged power lines.

Cyclone Gombe hit Nampula province overnight on Thursday-Friday packing powerful winds, forecast to reach 160 kph (100 mph), and torrents of rain, causing serious damage to homes, the weather service said.

A fifth of Mozambique's population, which is approaching 30 million, lives in Nampula.

"Preliminary information indicates that there are seven deaths, two in the city of Nampula as a result of collapsed houses and five in Angonche," 170 kilometers (105.63 miles) to the southeast on the Indian Ocean, the President of Mozambique Filipe Nyusi had announced earlier.

Weather conditions were reported to be adverse, while the authorities were trying to resolve the issue. Flights to the province had been halted before the cyclone struck.

Aid groups were preparing to deploy in the region after Tropical Storm Ana in January left a trail of destruction and killed about 100 people across Madagascar, Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe.