Mutare (New Ziana) – Tropical storm Freddy has weakened, and no longer poses much danger to lives and infrastructure in its path as earlier forecast, the Meteorological Services Department (MSD), said on Saturday.
The storm had been expected to make landfall in several regions of the country on Friday evening, spewing strong winds and heavy rains.
But it was still anchored in neighbouring Mozambique by Saturday afternoon, with the MSD saying it had weakened to a point it would not pose much danger when it hits the country.
MSD head of forecasting, James Ngoma – however – urged people to still maintain precautions such as checking latest weather updates, and staying on higher ground.
“We are still at level one on the danger scale and the storm is not as severe as people are putting it out. We are still monitoring the situation, and our forecasts show that it is nothing adverse and it is nothing as severe as compared to Cyclone Idai,” he said.
Cyclone Idai, which hit Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe a few years ago, killed thousands, and destroyed infrastructure such as bridges, roads, homes, schools and hospitals, in all the affected countries.
In Zimbabwe, much of the loss was in Manicaland Province due to its close proximity to Mozambique, always the source of the cyclones.
Storm Freddy was equally expected to hit hardest in the province, although four other regions – Masvingo, Harare Metropolitan, Mashonaland East and Mashonaland Central – were also forecast to be affected.
But officials in Chipinge district, an area most vulnerable to cyclones in Manicaland Province, said on Saturday only light, intermittent light showers were being experienced, and not the strong winds and heavy rains earlier predicted by the MSD.
“The situation is calm, though in most parts of the district it is over cast with intermittent rain showers here and there. Our response teams are still on standby and on high alert for any changes in the current state,” the district’s development coordinator, William Mashava, said.
Ahead of the storm, the government and regional authorities put in place elaborate precautionary measures to protect lives and property, to avoid the losses suffered during Cyclone Idai.
The measures included setting up safe emergency evacuation centres, establishing and equipping search and rescue teams, and shutting down schools in all the affected areas on Friday.
Inspite of the weakening of the storm, the precautions remained in place on Saturday, with public officials stressing their strict observance.
“We are advising people to be on high alert. If the storm hits us at night it will not be easy then for people to move to evacuation centers. I think the best is for people to move to evacuation centres during the day particularly those who are in flood prone areas or land slide prone areas,” said Edgar Seenza, chairman of Manicaland Province civil protection committee.
New Ziana
