Heavy rains expected in SADC region
Saturday December 14 2019
People use a bicycle to ferry goods across flooded Morogoro Road in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on May 7, 2015. PHOTO | AFP
Tanzania and other parts of Southern Africa were expected to experience heavy and above normal rains from mid-this week to Tuesday next week, meteorological reports indicate.
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Climate Services Centre (SADC-CSC) in Gaborone, Botswana warned of possible floods in some areas within the SADC region.
The centre said countries to be affected by heavy downpours included northern and southern Tanzania, most of eastern DRC, Angola, Zambia and Mozambique.
It also predicted a high probability of most of Madagascar and Seychelles receiving above 50mm of rainfall during the December 11 to 17 forecast period.
“National meteorological and hydrological services are urged to closely monitor these events and update relevant institutions such as Disaster Risk Management Agencies at SADC member states level to support preparedness and actions taken to protect lives and property,” the SADC-CSC report said.
Heavy rains caused the deaths of 44 people in Tanzania in late September, with another 1,100 people displaced as houses, roads, bridges and crop farms were destroyed.
The Tanzania Meteorological Authority (TMA) warned in its latest Climate Outlook Report that heavy rains were expected to hit at least 14 key administrative regions of the country as the Christmas and New Year season approached, with key economic areas such as mining, wildlife, agriculture and overland transport expected to be affected.