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Writes Felicidade Banze
MAPUTO (Mozambique) – Mozambique’s National Institute of Meteorology (INAM) has warned of the possibility of Tropical Cyclone Chido affecting the north and center of the country, starting on Saturday.
Cyclone Chido is moving west and passing the top of Madagascar and is expected to make landfall between Pemba and Nacala on Sunday (15 December) with windspeeds of up to 175 km/h.
According to an INAM warning, the tropical system intensified on Wednesday morning and became a Category 3 tropical cyclone, the third highest on a scale of 1 to 5.
Updated projections indicate that the cyclone continues to “intensify”, and could therefore “start to affect the coastal and continental regions of Madagascar”, starting on Friday.
“Projections also indicate that there is a strong possibility that the meteorological system will cross the northern region of Madagascar and enter the Mozambique channel from Saturday, which could affect the northern regions and part of the center”, the statement reads.
Mozambique is cyclically affected by climate change. In 2018 and 2019, more than 600 people died and 2.5 million were affected, due to tropical cyclones Idai and Kenneth, according to UNICEF data.
Last year, Cyclone Freddy killed more than 400 people in Mozambique and Malawi leaving a trail of extensive damage to thousands of homes and economic infrastructure.
Severe Tropical Cyclone Freddy was an exceptionally long-lived, powerful, and deadly tropical cyclone that traversed the southern Indian Ocean for more than five weeks in February and March last year.
