SA ‘is safe’ from Cyclone Idai

The SA Weather Service says although Cyclone Idai will not pose a threat to South Africa, the country has its own, unrelated weather challenges to deal with this week.

This comes after 10 people died after heavy rain that flooded two of Mozambique’s flood-prone provinces.

According to the service, the intense tropical Cyclone Idai is in the northern parts of Mozambique and expected to move towards the southwestern parts of the country soon.

The cyclone comes with “dangerously high seas, extreme flooding, strong, damaging winds, storm surges and significant rainfall could be expected”.

Cyclone Idai graphic.

Senior weather forecaster Puseletso Mofokeng denied that all cyclones in Mozambique have a direct effect on KwaZulu-Natal’s coastal areas. He said it was only the case if the cyclones were in the southern part of the country.

The service was not aware of any flooding in the province, apart from a flood north of Durban this past weekend that reportedly claimed the lives of six people. He confirmed that those floods were not related to Cyclone Idai.

He said South Africans did not have to worry about the cyclone travelling into the country’s channels – but the country had its own problem areas in the Eastern Cape and Western Cape.

“There will be severe thundershowers and in the southern coast of the Western Cape, there will be flooding. The public are urged to follow weather forecasts on television and radio.”

– jenniffero@citizen.co.za

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.