MAPUTO, Mozambique - Cyclone Eline unleashed gale force winds and torrential rain Tuesday on central Mozambique, compounding worries of further disaster in a country already reeling from its worst flooding in a half-century.

Authorities fear Eline could cause the swollen Limpopo River, which forms the border between neighboring Zimbabwe and South Africa, to burst its banks and flood vast areas as it flows through central Mozambique toward the Indian Ocean.

The cyclone could also whip up sea levels and flood coastal areas.

Phone calls from the capital, Maputo, to the area worst hit by the cyclone, in east-central Mozambique's Sofala province, were not going through. No reports of damage or casualties were immediately available.

Flights from Maputo to the region's major city, Beira, were canceled Tuesday because of the storm.

The cyclone made landfall from the Indian Ocean as the southeast African country was mopping up from its heaviest floods in a half-century, which the World Food Program estimates displaced 211,000 people and killed 67. The floods, triggered two weeks ago by torrential rain, washed away roads, houses, bridges and agricultural land.

At the United Nations in New York, Fred Eckhard, spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, said Monday that preparations were under way to launch a U.N. appeal to help flood victims.

U.N. agencies estimate about 300,000 people have been affected by flooding over the past two weeks, and say the fresh rain will frustrate efforts to distribute food and water.

As Eline headed west across Mozambique toward neighboring Zimbabwe, state-run radio there warned
motorists caught in the storm to pull off roads, shut all windows and stay in their vehicles. Zimbabwe's state radio also warned of flooding and possible landslides in hilly areas.

People on foot were warned not to huddle under trees in lightning and to lie flat to avoid being struck by flying debris.

Zimbabwe, a landlocked country, has not been hit by a cyclone in recent years. There are doubts about its readiness to cope in view of the current gasoline and diesel shortage caused by a chronic foreign exchange crisis.