Tropical Cyclone Jude spares Zimbabwe

Sifelani Tsiko

Innovations Editor

Tropical Cyclone Jude has spared Zimbabwe after hitting northern Mozambique with winds of up to 120km per hour and torrential rain.

This is the third cyclone to strike Mozambique this season.

The storm made landfall on March 10 and caused flooding and widespread damage to infrastructure, leaving scores of people homeless in Mossuril, Nampula Province, north of Mozambique.

Weather experts forecast that Jude would track southwestwards across northern Mozambique and circulate near southern Malawi’s border until the early morning of 12 March. After that, it will change direction, moving southeast across central Mozambique.

In a forecast, the Meteorological Services Department said Jude remains a depression over land. while the system continues to weaken over Mozambique.

“The presence of moisture from Botswana, coupled with residual moisture from the overland depression over Mozambique, resulted in thunderstorms and rain in Matabeleland North, Mashonaland East, and Manicaland Provinces on March 10,” the department said.

Significant rainfall amounts were recorded at Chisengu (48 mm), Hwange (48 mm), Chipinge (26 mm), Mukandi and Nyanga (20 mm).

Over the years, the frequency of natural disasters such as tropical cyclones and droughts has increased due to the effects of climate change.