The National Institute for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (INGD) has revealed that more than 28,000 people in central and northern Mozambique have been affected by natural phenomena caused by climate change since last October.
According to the president of the organisation, Luísa Meque, the total number of people affected corresponds to more than 5,000 families, who have suffered from atmospheric discharges and flooding of their homes.
“The centre and northern regions are experiencing heavy rainfall, strong winds, lightning strikes and urban flooding. This situation could intensify in the coming days,” she said during a meeting that took place on Monday 5 February in Gaza province.
Faced with this scenario, she said: “As we are entering the peak of the 2023-24 rainy and cyclonic season, we call on the district administrators to sensitise the population to beware of bad weather and to collaborate with the government, so that we can safeguard human life.”
Mozambique is considered one of the countries most severely affected by climate change in the world, facing cyclical floods and tropical cyclones during the rainy season, which runs from October to April.
The 2018-19 rainy season was one of the most severe on record in the country: 714 people died, including 648 victims of cyclones Idai and Kenneth, two of the biggest ever to hit the country.
