Mr. Mustafa said that while warnings were received about Cylcone Idai, there were no flood warnings and no contingency planning issued for Beira and the surrounding districts which were cut off from the outside world as 30% of the annual rainfall fell in a few days.

He highlighted the challenge of trying to persuade poor people to evacuate in good time as they were afraid to abandon their possessions and seek safety, some even saying they would prefer to die rather than leave their homes.

Mr. Mustafa said the experiences in Beira and Pemba from these two cyclones was the signal to switch to impact based forecasting which they had already been trialing. He also said the disaster had exposed the lack of infrastructure resilient to extreme weather events.

Speaking at the opening of the Science and Policy Forum, Prof. Jacqueline McGlade, former chief scientist with UN Environment and board member with the International Science Council, highlighted the failure to deal with mental health problems in the wake of major disaster events such as the 2008 earthquake in China which killed thousands of schoolchildren and revealed the lack of earthquake resistant standards in the construction. “There was no effort to get people around the table to talk,” she said.

She also highlighted the need to focus on food in Build Back Better programmes and creating opportunities for farmers and smallholders to grow foods that are saline tolerant and drought resistant.

“Sometimes after a disaster, patience is what’s required. The science of the long-term is where we need to go,” Prof. McGlade said.

Date:

13 May 2019

Sources:

United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR)

Themes:

Capacity Development, Advocacy & Media

Hazards:

Cyclone, Drought

Countries:

Mozambique

Regions:

Africa, Americas, Europe, Asia, Oceania