The Sunday Mail
While El Nino is long gone, La Nina, another wild weather phenomenon, is succeeding it. Zimbabwe has been here before. Armed with such vital information, it appears to be doing nothing about it and then getting ready to once more suffer the consequences. We have had to put up with the effects of drought, we have had to bear the brunt of flash floods.
Despite the early warning systems that are in place, we are always taken by surprise when floods hit or when our water sources dry up real fast due to high temperatures.
But we need not continue to complain. Humanity is no longer strictly at the mercy of the elements.
Are we not homo sapiens sapiens?
The nation can choose to avert the effects of extreme weather conditions through disaster management.
El Nino and La Nina are Siamese twins: they follow each other like night and day.
Simply knowing that should put us on top of the game, instead of reducing us to fatalistic Neanderthals who can only express outrage and fear when the elements are unkind.
Through meteorology, humanity can study air masses and predict weather patterns with some degree of accuracy so as to mitigate the effects of any likely harsh conditions.
Thanks to technology, we can predict with a good measure of certainty weather conditions almost a year in advance using supercomputers and satellites.
We do not suddenly wake up to find ourselves in the midst of an El Nino or La Nina.
Last season, El Nino brought record breaking heat waves across the continent and beyond, with very little rain to parch dry earth.
The impact was felt far and wide, and many countries — Zimbabwe included — made international appeals for food assistance.
It was not the first El Nino we had in these parts, but it still seemed to catch us with our pants down.
We knew La Nina would follow, has followed.
The Meteorological Services Department long told us to expect normal to above normal rainfall this season, and that we might experience flashfloods.
International climate forecasts show that Earth will probably experience more frequent El Ninos and La Ninas as the world gets warmer.
With this increase in occurrence of drought and flood, there is need for proper early warning systems and mitigation frameworks.
The nation cannot be waiting for the next flood or heat wave, as if we do not know that they will come, and then cry curse the elements for not dealing as a kinder hand.
We know what is coming. We simply have to prepare for it.
With La Nina, rainfall might be normal in some areas, which is great, but it will also result in deluges in other areas.
We must always plan with the worst case scenario in mind. We cannot afford to be complacent.
And it is not just about preparing in terms of food security. There are infrastructure considerations that must be occupying the minds of the relevant authorities.
For instance, urban local authorities knew La Nina was coming. But no one thought to clear storm and drainage drains. Now whenever it rains Harare looks like a dirty pond.
It has also been known that La Nina will do serious damage in low-lying areas, but we have not heard a squeak about the infrastructure — or contingency — needs of those places.
Is the nation investing sufficient resources in preparation for any undesirable eventuality?
Most probably the answer to those pertinent questions is negative.
The Civil Protection Unit, which is mandated to execute the very important task of disaster management, continues to limp under a pitiable budget.
The CPU should be like a modern day Noah’s Ark, ready to safeguard the nation from avoidable disaster.
We cannot for folk in Muzarabani to perch atop trees, watching their livelihoods being swept away, for us to realise that the CPU needs a better budget.
(And what is being done about permanently relocating people from such disaster-prone areas?)
There is plenty of knowledge about what is coming and what needs to be done about it at our disposal.
But that knowledge is only valuable when we use it to our advantage as thinking people.
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Building a modern day Noah’s Ark
The Sunday Mail
While El Nino is long gone, La Nina, another wild weather phenomenon, is succeeding it. Zimbabwe has been here before. Armed with such vital information, it appears to be doing nothing about it and then getting ready to once more suffer the consequences. We have had to put up with the effects of drought, we have had to bear the brunt of flash floods.
Despite the early warning systems that are in place, we are always taken by surprise when floods hit or when our water sources dry up real fast due to high temperatures.
But we need not continue to complain. Humanity is no longer strictly at the mercy of the elements.
Are we not homo sapiens sapiens?
The nation can choose to avert the effects of extreme weather conditions through disaster management.
El Nino and La Nina are Siamese twins: they follow each other like night and day.
Simply knowing that should put us on top of the game, instead of reducing us to fatalistic Neanderthals who can only express outrage and fear when the elements are unkind.
Through meteorology, humanity can study air masses and predict weather patterns with some degree of accuracy so as to mitigate the effects of any likely harsh conditions.
Thanks to technology, we can predict with a good measure of certainty weather conditions almost a year in advance using supercomputers and satellites.
We do not suddenly wake up to find ourselves in the midst of an El Nino or La Nina.
Last season, El Nino brought record breaking heat waves across the continent and beyond, with very little rain to parch dry earth.
The impact was felt far and wide, and many countries — Zimbabwe included — made international appeals for food assistance.
It was not the first El Nino we had in these parts, but it still seemed to catch us with our pants down.
We knew La Nina would follow, has followed.
The Meteorological Services Department long told us to expect normal to above normal rainfall this season, and that we might experience flashfloods.
International climate forecasts show that Earth will probably experience more frequent El Ninos and La Ninas as the world gets warmer.
With this increase in occurrence of drought and flood, there is need for proper early warning systems and mitigation frameworks.
The nation cannot be waiting for the next flood or heat wave, as if we do not know that they will come, and then cry curse the elements for not dealing as a kinder hand.
We know what is coming. We simply have to prepare for it.
With La Nina, rainfall might be normal in some areas, which is great, but it will also result in deluges in other areas.
We must always plan with the worst case scenario in mind. We cannot afford to be complacent.
And it is not just about preparing in terms of food security. There are infrastructure considerations that must be occupying the minds of the relevant authorities.
For instance, urban local authorities knew La Nina was coming. But no one thought to clear storm and drainage drains. Now whenever it rains Harare looks like a dirty pond.
It has also been known that La Nina will do serious damage in low-lying areas, but we have not heard a squeak about the infrastructure — or contingency — needs of those places.
Is the nation investing sufficient resources in preparation for any undesirable eventuality?
Most probably the answer to those pertinent questions is negative.
The Civil Protection Unit, which is mandated to execute the very important task of disaster management, continues to limp under a pitiable budget.
The CPU should be like a modern day Noah’s Ark, ready to safeguard the nation from avoidable disaster.
We cannot for folk in Muzarabani to perch atop trees, watching their livelihoods being swept away, for us to realise that the CPU needs a better budget.
(And what is being done about permanently relocating people from such disaster-prone areas?)
There is plenty of knowledge about what is coming and what needs to be done about it at our disposal.
But that knowledge is only valuable when we use it to our advantage as thinking people.
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