Mozambique: Cahora Bassa dam suspends discharges as Cyclone Freddy nears

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Mozambique: Cahora Bassa dam suspends discharges as Cyclone Freddy nears

11:50 CAT | 22 Feb 2023

FILE - For illustration purposes only. [File photo: Lusa]

Cahora Bassa, Mozambique’s largest dam, announced yesterday that it had stopped discharges to curb the increase in the Zambezi river’s flow in consideration of the approach of tropical cyclone Freddy.

“With this hydrological management measure, the Cahora Bassa dam will contribute to the significant reduction of hydrometric levels in the lower Zambezi,” the president of the Cahora Bassa Hydroelectric Power Plant (HCB), Boavida Muhambe, said in a statement.

The objective is “to avoid the aggravation of the possible negative impacts of the passage of tropical cyclone Freddy”.

“In this sense, the dam will be fulfilling one of its main functions, that of minimizing the harmful effects of extreme events downstream of the undertaking,” he concluded.

Mozambique is in the middle of its annual rainy season, with river basins on alert and flooding at various points.

Cyclone Freddy, which made landfall in Madagascar yesterday, could lose strength, but still arrive in Mozambique on Thursday night with the classification of a storm with destructive force.

Successive forecasts point to a route south of the Zambezi valley as a possible path for the weather system, with Inhambane province now being identified as the most likely coastal entry point.

Meteorological services anticipate days of intense rain while Freddy moves towards the interior of Mozambique.

Source: Lusa