WARNING: TROPICAL CYCLONES MAY IMPACT ESWATINI

MBABANE – Take this as an early warning for tropical cyclones!

A prediction has been made that four to eight cyclones are likely to mature to tropical cyclone level and these have a probability to make a landfall and impact Eswatini. This is according to the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) and Eswatini Meteorological Services Department, which issued the warning to the nation. The tropical cyclones are expected to mature and impact the Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries, including Eswatini, which lies in the South Western Indian Ocean tropical cyclone basin. Of note is that there is currently a cyclone that is developing in the eastern part of Madagascar, moving towards the north of Beira in Mozambique where it is likely to make a landfall next Friday, according to information sourced from Windy.com.

Reviewed

Director Early Warning and Research at NDMA Eric Seyama said together with the Department of Meteorological Services, they reviewed the signal performance such that during the current season (October to date), above normal rains have been received. Seyama noted that these conditions were expected to continue up to the end of the season in April. He said the rains had already caused a lot of damage to the environment and infrastructure, especially the road networks and houses. “With the information that the rains are expected to continue, we felt that we should encourage and warn the public to be on the lookout and try as much as possible not to expose themselves to the dangers caused by the rains,” Seyama said during a media briefing yesterday.

He said some of the dangers which had been noted were the over-flooding of rivers and dams, mudslides, which had already been experienced in some areas. Seyama said the Department of Meteorology also predicted a normal to above normal number of cyclones this season, which had the probability of developing into tropical cyclones. He said it was a known fact that the country was situated along the tracks of the tropical cyclones. It experienced the effects of Tropical Cyclone Eloise last year, which devastated the country with three days of torrential rains and massive destruction, especially to infrastructure.

Meanwhile, Seyama said they believed that as much as they had developed a tropical cyclone readiness plan, it would also need cooperation and assistance from the public who should be aware and make sure that they took the necessary precautions on time.  This, he said, would ensure that minimal damage to life was done.  He said the tropical cyclone emergency readiness plan was, therefore, fundamental in strengthening the country’s preparedness effort and capacity to enable government to deploy services and resources for emergency response, impact mitigation and early recovery. According to Seyama, the Meteorological Services Department would continue updating the country on time if there was anything developing as they were able to keep watch and exchange information with other centres.

It should be noted though that cyclones have one of the most erratic behaviours and can change their direction at whim. While early warnings are necessary to prepare the nation for the worst case scenario, there is likelihood that the predicted cyclones may not making their landfall in the country.

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