Red Cross activates actions ahead of Cyclone Chalane

THE Zimbabwe Red Cross Society (ZRCS) and Mozambique Red Cross have come up with a cocktail of strategies meant to minimise the impact of Cyclone Chalane on communities.

Cyclone Chalane is today and tomorrow expected to strike the districts of Buzi, Beira, Dondo and Muanza in central Mozambique as well as Chimanimani and Chipinge as well as other districts in Manicaland province areas that were devastated by Cyclone Idai in March last year.

According to the United Nations, Cyclone Idai affected three million people across Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Malawi.

The cyclone claimed the lives of over 1 300 people while many others were left displaced and seeking shelter, food, access to clean water and proper sanitation.

However, the disaster could have been abated had it not been a business-as-usual approach to disasters on the part of governments affected.

On such a backdrop, the Red Cross in Zimbabwe and Mozambique under the Early Action Protocol for Cyclones component have come up with a series of preparedness actions to minimise the cyclone's impact on communities.

"Our emphasis at this stage is on anticipation and not reaction. Instead of waiting for the cyclone to hit, we are preparing for its impact," said Jurg Wilbrink, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) Southern Africa's Forecast-based Action project manager.

"By Wednesday (today), if the cyclone makes landfall, Red Cross staff and volunteers will have launched early warnings and supported reinforcing houses and public structures, as well as strategic stock in place to limit the potential damage caused to people and infrastructure in targeted vulnerable communities."

According to ZRCS operations director Tapiwa Chadoka, the organisation has put in place mechanisms that will allow the swift delivery of shelter kits and other emergency supplies like items for increased hygiene and sanitation, as well as Covid-19 hygiene kits.

IFRC in a statement said Red Cross volunteers will also share potentially life-saving information, including the position of safe areas, medical help and key actions to take before landfall in the area.

Government on Monday said it has started to provide security and healthcare in evacuation centres in the seven districts of Manicaland province where scores of people are set to be relocated in the event that Cyclone Chalane hits the country.

Cyclone Chalane is expected to reach wind speeds of up to 125km per hour and according to the Meteorological Services Department, the effects of Cyclone Chalane could have started to be felt in Zimbabwe yesterday.

Recent Red Cross analysis suggests that, even if Cyclone Chalane makes landfall with wind speeds of 72km per hour, 30% of vulnerable housing structures could be destroyed.