from MARCUS MUSHONGA in Harare, Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe Bureau
HARARE, (CAJ News) – ZIMBABWE is leveraging advanced meteorological technology to strengthen its resilience in the face of potential disasters.
It has taken a giant step towards deploying an automated weather station east of the country, the region that is worst impacted by disasters, particularly cyclones and floods.
The station located in the city of Mutare, bordering Mozambique, is a collaboration between the Meteorological Services Department (MSD) and some aid agencies.
This initiative has been spearheaded through the Strengthening Disaster Preparedness Structures and Systems in Zimbabwe project.
Funded by the European Union Civil Protection Operations in partnership with the Department of Civil Protection, the project is supporting preparedness systems districts prone to disasters through setting up proper and sustainable systems for cash preparedness, stockpiling, access to emergency Non-Food Items (NFIs), improving the safety, security and management of selected evacuation centres.
Tapiwa Maringo, of the MSD Meteorological Technician Office, explained the station will provide rainfall data and other critical weather data elements such as wind speed and direction, pressure, temperature, relative humidity and radiation.
“The advantage of the automated weather station is that it will not only provide localized parameters for agricultural communities to improve informed decisions, but they will also strengthen the whole forecasting chain from community level to national level,” Maringo said.
Manicaland province, of which Mutare is the capital, is usually the epicentre of cyclone and flood disasters in Zimbabwe.
The worst was cyclone Idai that left 634 people dead in 2019.
Ephraim Chako, Mutare Local Government representative, welcomed the installation of the automated weather station.
“With this automated weather station we are now a prepared province and we are hoping to save lives through quick preparation for disasters,” he said.
– CAJ News