Times Of Swaziland: FLOODS TO HIT SD IN   WAKE OF DYING DINEO

FLOODS TO HIT SD IN   WAKE OF DYING DINEO
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 BY SIBONGILE SUKATI on 17/02/2017 01:23:00


MBABANE – You will need more than your average umbrella to escape the expected
heavy rains and floods today.
The extreme weather conditions predicted for today and last night have been left
behind by the fiery tropical Cyclone Dineo which wreaked havoc in Mozambique,
but it is now called ‘ex-Dineo’.
The warning from most meteorology stations in the SADC region stated that
although the tropical cyclone had downgraded, heavy rains and floods were
expected in places like Swaziland, Mpumalanga, Limpompo and Zimbabwe.
It was reported that rains were expected throughout last night and could reach
100mm.
Yesterday, Nyonyane, which is near Lomahasha, received the highest rains in the
country and some children from schools in that area were turned back as early as
10am.
Dineo had fiercely landed in Mozambique at a speed of 120 kilometres per hour on
Wednesday night, but forecasters have now reported that the tropical cyclone was
now weaker than expected and had been downgraded to a status of ‘tropical
depression ex-Dineo’.
Although the worst is predicted to be over people have been warned not to
underestimate the rains which have been falling in most parts of the country as
by late last night, they were expected to intensify.
The tropical cyclone lost momentum when it crossed the inland and missed the
ocean. “We expected it to be downgraded because the cyclone moved over land
and it needs heat from the ocean to survive,” said one of the forecasters from
the South African Weather Services (SAWS).
Yesterday morning, the Swaziland Meteorological Services Department issued a
statement stating that Cyclone Dineo experienced landfall after 7pm local time
just to the north of the Mozambican coastal town, Inhambane, as was expected, at
which point the cyclone eye (centre) was just over 500km to the north east of
the country.