Deadly Cyclone Disaster In Africa

Devastating Cyclone Idai as it was about to make landfall
in Mozambique late last week. 

In yesterday's post, I mentioned in passing a deadly cyclone in Africa, and it deserves a closer look today.

That's because, tragically it has become the deadliest weather event in the world so far in 2019. At last count, Tropical Cyclone Idai had killed 239 people in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Malawi and South Africa. The toll could easily rise.

Tropical Cyclone Idai made landfall last Thursday in Beira, Mozambique, on the east coast of Africa. With top sustained winds of 110 mph it was the fourth strongest tropical cyclone on record to hit Mozambique, according to Dr, Jeff Masters wrote the Category 6 weather and climate blog.

The BBC said there is widespread destruction in and around Beira, with massive flooding and roofs blown off many, many homes. In neighboring Zimbabwe, the storm triggered landslides, a couple of which slammed into boarding school dormitories, killing some students.

Like most hurricanes, water killed the most poeple when Idai hit. (A tropical cyclone in this part of the world is what we would call a hurricane if it hit the United States. They're both the same thing).

A storm surge blasted into the area around Beira, Mozambique, causing the most damage and deaths. Flooding from the storm caused widespread damage and misery in much of southeastern Africa.

Tropical Cyclones (hurricanes) do occasionally come off the Indian Ocean and hit eastern Africa, so you can't say this is a weird, previously unheard of tragedy caused by climate change. However, Tropical Cyclone Idai is one of the worst and deadliest such storms to hit Mozambique on record, said Masters in the Category 6 blog.

Here's a news video of the disaster. You might not understand the language, but you'll certainly get a sense of the destruction: