Weather Alert: Rain, gusty winds and thunderstorms for southern Mozambique this Friday

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Weather Alert: Rain, gusty winds and thunderstorms for southern Mozambique this Friday

4:17 CAT | 05 Jan 2023

File photo: O País

The National Institute of Meteorology of Mozambique (INAM) has warned of rains and strong winds accompanied by severe thunderstorms in the south of the country tomorrow, Friday.

In view of the warning, INAM calls in a note for the taking of “precautionary and security measures”.

The bad weather, expected to start in the early hours of Friday, could affect the provinces of Maputo, Gaza and Inhambane, with rainfall of up to 50 millimetres in 24 hours and winds with gusts of as much as 60 kilometres per hour.

In the provinces of Maputo and Gaza, the authorities have called for the evacuation of people and goods in view of the increased flow of some rivers resulting from discharges from major dams in neighbouring South Africa and Eswatini.

Flows have already caused flooding in agricultural fields, destroying hectares of crops and restricting road traffic between some administrative posts, according to the most recent data from the National Directorate for Water Resources Management (DNGRH).

Mozambique, considered one of the African countries most severely affected by climate change, is in the middle of its rainy and cyclonic season, which occurs between the months of October and April, with winds coming from the Indian Ocean and floods originating in the hydrographic basins of southern Africa.

In November of this year, the National Institute for Disaster Risk Management and Reduction (INGD) announced that it needed 7.4 billion meticais (€112 million) for the 2022/2023 rainy season, a period in which it expects at least 2.2 million people to be affected.

In the 2020/2021 rainy season, the country was plagued by extreme weather events, most notably Storm Chalane and Cyclones Eloise and Guambe, in addition to other weeks of intense rain and flooding.

The 2018/2019 rainy season was one of the most severe on record for Mozambique, causing 714 casualties, including 648 victims of Cyclones Idai and Kenneth, two of the worst the country has ever experienced.