Mozambique needs radars to better respond to natural disasters

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Mozambique needs radars to better respond to natural disasters

1:16 CAT | 03 Apr 2019

Deputy director general of INAM Mussa Mustáfa. Photo: Voa Portugues

Natural disasters are increasingly frequent and deadly, and, with climate change, calamities such as cyclones and floods can be expected to hit Mozambique with even more violence.

The National Institute of Meteorology of Mozambique (INAM) is better equipped to analyse and forecast weather than it was, but it is clear that it still lacks equipment to do an even more effective job.

After the devastating floods of 2000, the Mozambican government acquired two weather radar from Germany, one of which was set in the city of Beira, capital of Sofala province, and the other in Xai-Xai in southern Mozambique. Neither is currently functioning, for a variety of reasons, and the technology involved may already be outdated.

Studies suggest that, for effective coverage, Mozambique would need at least seven such radar installations.

Mussa Mustafa, deputy director general of INAM, says there is a strategic plan providing for the mobilisation of US$50 million to buy and install radars, but only three are being installed – in Nacala, Beira and Xai-Xai.

Mustafa says that “radars are expensive and their installation is a complex process.

For more effective coverage of national territory, Mussa Mustafa says that INAM would need at least another 114 automatic meteorological stations, considered important for air navigation safety.

Source: Voa Portugues