What Cyclone Idai illustrated is the fact that as Africans, we do not have the infra-structure and capacity to cope with increased climate-related disasters.
In the past days heavy rains in southern and eastern parts of South Africa (KwaZulu-Natal coastal region and parts of the Eastern Cape ) caused extensive flooding and mudslides. We have seen the collapse of roads, collapse of homes and other buildings in coastal areas of KwaZulu-Natal province. Here the death toll continues to raise as the rescue workers dig through the debris and mud. Many residents highlight the fact that the drainage system and other infra-structure was not able to support the floods and the heavy rains.
The authorities indicate that they did not expect to be hot by such heavy rains. In Port St Johns the weather station measured over 189 mm of rain. Alongside the heavy rain was the gale force winds.
Over a thousand people lost their homes – locals from Umlazi reported “our houses are flooded, some people’s shacks are washed away. Some electricity poles have fallen over and the power lines are on the floor. Some places don’t have water. Some people are left homeless, even their things are washed away. We lost everything.”
As we authorities work their way through the mudslides along the south coast of Kwa-Zulu Natal, Mozambique and Tanzania were preparing for another hurricane.
It is clear that one can no longer deny the impact of changing weather conditions in the world. But is it also very clear that countries of global South and Africa in particular do not have to capacity and resources to cope with the crises. This is especially worrying given that 2018 marked, in global terms, the peak of the risks of global warming. In October 2018, the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) launched an Assessment Report (AR5) . The data is conclusive and generated consensus among 97% of climatologists: only 12 years remain for very significant measures to be taken before heating processes pose incalculable risk. As NASA atmospheric scientist Kate Marvel said, \”We are more certain today that greenhouse gases are causing global warming than we do that smoking causes cancer.\”[1] Despite this, we are nowhere in getting governments to change the patterns of accumulation and destructive development paths.
Written by Mercia Andrews – April 2019
[1] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/feb/06/trump-state-of-the-union-climate-change?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
