Online Reporter
Elita Chikwati
Agriculture News Editor
A TOTAL of 210 people have lost their lives due to floods and extreme weather events, while 60 000 have been displaced across the SADC region since December last year.
This was revealed during the ongoing 32nd Southern Africa Climate Outlook Forum (SARCOF-32), taking place in Mbabane, Eswatini.
Climate prediction experts from the National Meteorological/Hydrological Services (NMHSs) in the SADC region, climate scientists from universities, research institutions, and regional and international user organisations are meeting under the theme, “Closing the early warning gap together within the SADC region”.
The experts will look at the generated regional seasonal climate outlook for October, November, December (OND) and for the overlapping three-monthly sub-seasons for the second half of the rainy season of 2025/2026 for February, March, April (FMA), March, April, May (MAM) and April, May, June (AMJ ) 2026.
Speaking at the forum, SADC acting director directorate of infrastructure, Dr George Ah-Thew, preliminary assessments indicated that these floods had affected at least 1.3 million people, displaced over 60 000, with over 210 fatalities reported across Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe as of last week.
“Approximately 586 000 people in the region have been affected, and critical infrastructure, including schools, roads, bridges and approximately 270 000 households,” he said.
