Project News

Urban and Regional Development Group, Infrastructure Management Department

Making the Most of What We Learned from Cyclone Idai in March 2019

On January 8, 2021, the mayor of Beira City in Mozambique stated, "When Cyclone Idai occurred on March 14, 2019 and caused extensive damage, we were confused because we did not know what actions to take in advance. This time, thanks to JICA, we were able to evacuate the area smoothly in advance and minimize the damage. I am also impressed by JICA's remote implementation of the project under the limiting conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic," expressing his gratitude for Japan's cooperation.

In March 2019, Cyclone Idai struck the country of Mozambique in southeastern Africa, causing tremendous damage to the country (approximately 650 deaths and 400,000 people evacuated). The government of Mozambique requested the Japanese government to cooperate in the recovery from the disaster and the formation of a disaster-resistant society, and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has been cooperating with the government since September 2019 (Project on Strengthening Resilience in Cyclone IDAI-Affected Areas).

On December 30, 2020, Cyclone Chalane made landfall in the northern part of Beira City, one of the target areas for cooperation. Although the scale of the storm was smaller than Cyclone Idai (central pressure: 983 hPa^[1] , maximum instantaneous wind speed: 33 m/sec^[2]), there was great concern about the damage caused by the storm surge as it coincided with the high tide. The project has been promoting understanding of disaster risks and supporting the formulation of evacuation plans based on the storm surge and flood hazard map developed by the project based on the issues raised by Cyclone Idai. In response to Cyclone Chalane, the damage was minimized by using these tools (no death or injury was reported in Beira City). In areas with a high risk of flooding, evacuation centers were identified in advance by referring to the hazard map based on the project support. As a result, when Cyclone Chalane approached, related organizations worked together to call residents to evacuate, and the residents were able to smoothly evacuate to safe facilities in advance.

Continuing cooperation under the COVID-19 pandemic

The project has been mainly operated remotely since March 2020 due to the travel restriction of Japanese experts under the COVID-19 pandemic. In the web conference held on January 8, 2021, the mayor of Beira City said, "When Cyclone Idai stuck us, we were confused because we did not know what action to take in advance. This time, thanks to JICA, we were able to evacuate smoothly in advance, and the damage was minimal. I am also impressed by JICA's remote implementation of the project under the limiting conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic." He also stated that he would like to advise other aid agencies to implement recovery projects using the hazard map created by this project.

On January 23, 2021, Cyclone Eloise made landfall in the southern part of Beira City. With the possibility of more cyclones hitting the area in the future, JICA will stay in close contact with local people and continue cooperating for the recovery and reconstruction of Beira City and creating a disaster-resilient community.

Path of Cyclone Chalane
(Source: METELO FRANCE)

Flooded coastal area of Beira City

The areas targeted for evacuation are circled on the hazard map created in this project.

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Notes

• [1] Meteo France La Réunion RSMC (external link)
• [2] NASA MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer)