Chapter 11 - Revisiting the impacts of tropical cyclone Idai in Southern Africa

Abstract

The majority of tropical cyclones that form in the Southwest Indian Ocean (SWIO) basin do not make landfall on the Mozambique coast. In fact, only about 5% of these tropical cyclones make landfall. Landfalling tropical cyclones usually cause damage to the environment and infrastructure and result in human fatalities, although contributing to useful seasonal rainfall in some areas at times. One of the notable tropical cyclones that made landfall over the Mozambique coast is tropical cyclone Idai that occurred in March 2019. This study was conducted to establish the impacts it caused. Findings indicate that the tropical cyclone affected southern Africa, standing out as one of the worst-ever natural disasters to affect Africa and the southern hemisphere. The worst-affected countries were Malawi, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe. Strong winds and heavy rains which caused flooding and landslides destroyed houses, leaving hundreds of thousands of people homeless and displaced. Schools, health facilities, roads, and bridges were also damaged. The tropical cyclone also washed away crops and livestock, worsening the already fragile food security situation which was prevailing in the region. The total damages in the three countries amounted to more than US$2 billion, while more than 1000 people lost their lives, with 3 million being affected. The impacts provided some useful lessons, including the need to enhance early warning systems across the region in order to reduce the impacts of future extreme weather events such as tropical cyclones. Future projections of tropical cyclone characteristics in the SWIO basin indicate that there will be a decrease in the frequency of occurrence of tropical cyclones, although more intense tropical cyclones are forecast to occur.