March 20, 2023 - Flooding in Mozambique
Mozambique
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In February and March 2023, Tropical Cyclone Freddy made two separate
landfalls over Mozambique, bringing strong winds and intense rainfall
to both that country and to Malawi, which sits inland west of
Mozambique. Freddy’s destructive winds and extreme rains have left
behind flooding, extensive damage, and a complex and widespread
disaster.
The cyclone’s first landfall was on February 24, when Freddy came
ashore roughly 120 miles (193 m) south of Beira, a large and port city
sitting where the Pungwe River pours into the Mozambique Channel. After
looping back out over the Channel, Freddy made a second landfall on
March 11, this time about the same distance north of Beira.
The first landfall resulted in significant infrastructure damage in
Mozambique, as more than 22,000 houses were affected, almost 14,000
were destroyed, 60 health units were flooded, and 1,265 km of roads
were damaged. About 92,000 hectares of crops were affected, including
in areas where 400,000 people are already food insecure.
At the second landfall, wind speeds measuring at 93 mph (150 km/h) with
gusts up to 132 mph (213 km/h), brought destruction to hospitals,
schools, the water supply system, and power systems. Rainfall topped
more than 600 mm (23.6 inches) in some places in Mozambique which is
four times greater than average monthly precipitation during the rainy
season. As late as March 15, rainfall greater than 100 mm (3.9 inches)
per 24 hours continued to fall.
Extreme rainfall, along with infrastructure damage, has created
widespread flooding and a complex humanitarian disaster in both
Mozambique and Malawi. The poor conditions have worsened a cholera
outbreak. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination
of Human Affairs (OCHA), as of March 15, 8,877 cumulative cases of
cholera have been reported in Mozambique with 54 deaths. This is an
increase of 901 cases in a week.
The second landfall damaged or destroyed about 48,134 buildings, while
191,562 hectares of cropland were damaged and an additional 38,000
hectares have been lost. The damage to cropland comes at a time when
many crops were nearly ready to harvest, and will most likely lead to
significant food shortages. Flood waters continue to rise in some
localities, especially in low-lying areas near major rivers. By some
estimates, it may take months for the flooding to subside.
In Malawi, at least 438 deaths were reported as of March 17, with 918
people injured and 282 missing. Nearly 345,200 people are displaced and
sheltering in over 500 camps across flood affected areas, where the
risk of cholera is high. The extent of flooding appeared to increase
between 14 and 17 March 2023, according to satellite imagery, even
though Freddy had become a remnant low over Malawi by March 14.
On March 17, 2023, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer
(MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a false-color image of
flooding near Mozambique’s Pungwe River after Tropical Cyclone Freddy’s
pair of landfalls. The city of Beira can be seen as a tan smudge on the
northern shore of the Pungwe where it flows into the Mozambique
Channel. This type of false-color image uses infrared and visible light
(MODIS bands 7,2,1) to help visualize water (deep blue) from vegetated
land (bright green). Open land looks tan and cloud appears white or may
be tinted with electric blue.
Immediately below the March 17 image is a second Terra MODIS
false-color image of the same area acquired on February 21, before
landfall of Tropical Cyclone Freddy. The difference between this
non-flooded view and the post-Freddy inundation is remarkable,
especially considering that this area was about halfway between the two
landfalls and not directly struck by the tropical cyclone.
Image Facts
Satellite: Terra
Date Acquired: 3/17/2023
Resolutions: 1km (146.4 KB), 500m (333 KB), 250m (212.1 KB)
Bands Used: 7,2,1
Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2023-03-20
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