The Sunday Mail
Garikai Mazara
Cyclone Idai has been mysterious as much as it has been devastating.
Developing on March 3 as a deep pressure system off the Mozambican coast, causing extensive floods in Malawi and Mozambique, it was to recede into the Mozambican channel where it developed into a tropical cyclone.
When it made landfall in Beira on the night of March 14, accompanied by heavy rains, intense winds, thunder and lightning, there have been differing eye-witness accounts on what happened during the following two days.
But one message has been unanimous — there was a loud bang, which was heard in Beira, as much as it was heard in Chimanimani.
Isaac Pedro, a Beira resident, said the noise that he heard on the night that the cyclone made landfall might be similar to what he envisaged when he read about the Hiroshima attack in history books.
But what really was the bang and noise about?
Tich Zinyemba, of the Meteorological Services Department, said it is difficult to say scientifically — and with certainty — what the noise might have been.
He said though there had been a tremor, which accompanied the cyclone, whose epicentre was Machazi in Mozambique and which measured 3,9 on the Richter scale, this could not be attributed to the noise that residents of Chimanimani are said to have heard.
On the stones which are now commonplace in Chimanimani and environs, whose arrangement looks like pavers that have been laid by Mother Nature, Zinyemba said it should be left to geographers to come up with a more scientific explanation as to how the stones ended up in that arrangement.
“Right now it is all conjecture and in the absence of a study, it would be wrong to give a full explanation as to how the stones ended up like. Were the stones always in the ground and only exposed by the incessant rains, or were they deposited there by the landslides? For now, we can only speculate,” the weather expert said.
The rains were as much as 400mm per day in some areas, enough rainfall for a whole season.
On whether enough was done in warning the people of Zimbabwe in general, and those of the affected areas in particular, of the impeding cyclone, Zinyemba said as a department they had done enough to warn citizens.
“Disasters of this nature can never be prepared enough, there are several factors to consider. I will cite the perennial flooding that occurs in Muzarabani, no-one is prepared to leave that place, some for cultural reasons, others for economic reasons.
“So even if people had been told to move to higher ground, some would have questioned what kind of ground could have been higher than Chimanimani.
‘‘So it takes a holistic approach when dealing with calamities of this nature, it is not enough to look at one aspect.
“But since natural disasters are always going to be part of us, especially in the light of climate change, what we can do is learn from Cyclone Idai. What lessons did we derive? What can we do better in terms of disaster management and preparedness?”
Zinyemba also lambasted social media, as a propagator of false information and news. “Like there was a trending message that a volcano is about to erupt in Mozambique, whose effects would be felt as far as Zimbabwe. That kind of misinformation affects the delivery and acceptance of real news and information.
“How many people will be able to differentiate between such false reports and genuine news?
‘‘How many people will dismiss genuine news as fake news? And to what effect?”
He said his department usually issues warnings through the print and electronic media and it is up to other stakeholders, working with the warnings they would have issued, to take the necessary action.
“For example, we don’t tell people to evacuate their homes, we tell them in advance that such and such adverse weather is forecast. Using that information, and working with other stakeholders, like the Airforce, the Army, the Civil Protection Unit and non-governmental organisations, we then advise on what can be done.”
Cyclone Idai, the most devastating tropical cyclone to hit the Southern Hemisphere, left a trail of destruction with over 700 people dead in Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, though hundreds are still missing.
Several roads and bridges were ripped apart, with the reconstruction budget in the three countries running into hundreds of millions of dollars.
The port city of Beira has been besieged by a cholera outbreak, with about 1 400 cases confirmed by Thursday, and one death. Around 900 000 cholera vaccines had been made available by mid-week.
