By Anna Chibamu
THE Meteorological Services Department (MSD) says Zimbabweans must brace for a rough Christmas as a devastating Cyclone Chido is expected to land in Zimbabwe in the next three days.
MDS deputy director, James Mangoma told journalists at a press briefing in Harare that Cyclone Chido, which is currently moving at high speeds of more than 210 km/per hour in Madagascar, will make its first landfall in that country this weekend.
“Current trajectory is that it’s going to be affecting parts of Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, and maybe even parts of Zimbabwe. But our current watch is for a system that is entering in from Botswana, which should give us thunderstorms as we get into Sunday.
“So we are expecting violent storms from Botswana, giving us a bit of continuous rainfall over that area into the interior of the country,” Mangoma said.
Further, the weather expert said the cyclone is expected to move into Mashonaland provinces, as well as Harare and Bulawayo Metropolitan provinces.
“We expect these storms to be violent across much of the country, as we’ve been experiencing a lot of sunshine.This heat that we are currently experiencing in the atmosphere should turn into the thunderstorms that we are projecting into the weekend, and into Monday and Tuesday before even tropical Cyclone Chido affects Zimbabwe.
“If at all, it affects Zimbabwe, as we get into Christmas, we’re also expecting the rainfall to increase, as the inter-tropical convergence zone will be over the country, as well as these cloud bands that are passing in from Botswana into the interior of the country. So, with that, we’ll keep you updated as the weekend comes,” added Mangoma.
Zimbabwe has been hit by tropical storms and the most recent was Cyclone Filip, which affected the Chipinge area in Manicaland province, where very little destruction was noted as compared to Cyclone Idai that destroyed Chimanimani district and surrounding areas in 2019.
Hundreds of people died during the heavy storms which triggered landslides and thousands left homeless.
Meanwhile, the Civil Protection Unit (CPU) director, Nathan Nkomo said emergency services are on high alert and has already started preparing for possible outcomes working together with its stakeholders having learnt from previous disasters.
The most severe cyclone to make landfall in Zimbabwe in the past 12 months was Filipo, which reached a wind speed of up to 94 km/h on March 12, 2024, and was 95 kilometers in diametre at the time.
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