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Rumbidzayi Zinyuke
Senior Reporter
THE Manicaland Provincial Civil Protection Committee has utilised part of the $10 million received from Government to capacitate districts to respond to disasters as the province continues to be plagued by natural disasters.
This comes after some districts in the province were affected by tropical storms Chalane and Eloise last month, while an earth tremor with a 4.3 magnitude was recorded in Chipinge on Monday.
The tremor, with its epicentre at a depth of 10 kilometres, occurred 69km from Chipinge at around 6.55pm.
This was the second time Chipinge had been affected by earth tremors since December 2018, when the district was hit by a 5.5 magnitude that affected parts of Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
According to Manicaland chief meteorological officer, Mr Lucas Murambi, the district has been feeling some aftershocks following the recent earth tremor.
“We recorded two aftershocks the morning after the tremor hit Chipinge. It is normal to feel these aftershocks and we might continue feeling them for even up to six months. People will feel them and they have to know that it is just aftershocks and not another earth tremor hitting the district,” he said.
The tremor came after the province was hit by two tropical storms — Chalane and Eloise — in the last two months, affecting communities that were recuperating from the March 2019 Cyclone Idai disaster trauma.
Manicaland CPU chairman and Provincial Development Coordinator, Mr Edgars Seenza, said the province has put in place measures to make sure that people affected by natural disasters are taken care of.
“An earth tremor hit Chipinge District this week, but we have not received any reports of damages. The funds we received from Central Government for disaster management have so far been utilised to assist those who were affected by flash floods and those who were placed in evacuation centres after the tropical storms. We have also allocated each district some funds to capacitate them to be able to respond to disasters,” he said.
People who were displaced by Cyclone Idai in March 2019 were evacuated twice in December and January during the two tropical storms respectively.
Manicaland has experienced more natural disasters than all other provinces in the country following the Cyclone Idai disaster in 2019, which killed hundreds and displaced thousands of people.
The disaster brought to the fore the need for a comprehensive disaster risk management plan as more disasters might continue to hit the country due to effects of climate change.
Disaster risk management includes preparedness, mitigation, response, rehabilitation and recovery.
Community participation has also been highlighted as an important aspect to disaster risk management.
The Climate Change Management Department in 2019 embarked on a mainstreaming sensitisation programme to create awareness of disaster management skills in the country’s 10 provinces.
The programme, which was implemented with the support of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), was aimed at highlighting to communities measures that could be taken in times of disaster and enhance preparedness and pro-activeness to weather and climate disasters within Provincial Development Committees.
Mr Seenza last year said communities in Manicaland had been empowered on how to respond in the event of disasters to avoid loss of lives.
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