Disaster preparedness in Mozambique – Our flood-warning system is being expanded

The flood-warning systems in central Mozambique were consolidated further in 2011 and are soon to be transferred to the administration and care of government authorities. The system is now being installed in flood-prone regions in the country's north as well. The first major steps in this direction have already been taken.

The rainy seasons of 2008 and 2009 brought severe flooding to the north of Mozambique. Rivers such as the Zambezi and the Chire, which lies close to the Malawi border, overflowed their banks, destroying parts of local crops and causing fatalities. As no flood-warning system existed, the local populace was unprepared for the floods.
 
Our partners from GIZ/IP Consult in Mozambique have now been able to extend our flood-warning system from the Búzi and Save rivers to the flood-prone areas in the country's north. The project's financing was realised with funding from Germany's Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. Funds for adapting to climate change (the Fast-Start Financing resolution by the World Climate Summit in Copenhagen in 2009) were put to good use.
 
Consolidation of flood-warning systems in central Mozambique
Our objective is to further consolidate the flood-warning systems on the Búzi and Save rivers in central Mozambique and then transfer ownership of them to the authorities. Seven local decision-makers (district administrators) were therefore involved in 2011 in order to move the process of formalising the early-warning systems along. A legislative proposal is to lift flood-warning to a higher political level (institutionalisation). Yet work at the community level continued with the inclusion of the smaller rivers Gorongosa and Revue in the warning system. A technical cooperation project (TCP) with Brazil set up weather stations and flood-level gauges in order to improve hydro-meteorological monitoring and forecasting.
 
Expansion in the north
While it is also possible to organise flood warnings in the north, doing so is far more difficult than elsewhere. The Rio Chire also borders on Malawi, and several largely autonomous districts in Mozambique have to be integrated in the risk management, which makes decisions and directives more difficult.
 
Due to the critical flood situations in early 2011, Mozambique's Council of Ministers declared the critical hazard level "red – institutional" in the country's main river areas – including the Zambezi and Chire in the north. This change in course came at just the right time because the risk situation has deteriorated in the past few years. There have recently been more and more extreme events, some of which might be attributable to climate change:

• more frequent heatwaves and droughts during the planting season from September to November,
• later onset of the rainy period with greater variability in precipitation and
• more frequent and intense cyclones bringing torrential rainfall that has caused extreme flooding even in the country's interior.

The flood-warning model (referred to locally as SIDPABB) developed on Rio Búzi is now set to be phased in along the Zambezi and Chire rivers. With the help of the "Fast-Start Financing", the first steps have already been taken.
 
People living along the rivers have formed local committees for disaster risk management. Measuring, transmitting and receiving stations were set up in Morrumbala, Mutarara and Mopeia (all in the Zambezia District). The project partners also worked together with the people affected to produce risk maps for Rio Chire. These maps indicate critical zones (settlement, cultivated areas, vulnerability assessments and major floods in the past). During rainy periods, volunteers measure the water level at regular intervals and radio the results to an evaluation centre in Caia (Sofala District). The system has already proved its worth.
 
The next steps
As the next step, the analysis and forecasting centre is to be moved from Caia (south of the Zambezi) to Mutarara in the Morrumbala District. This would shift the core of the flood-warning system to the centre of the exposure zone, which would significantly facilitate on-site coordination.
 
The flood-warning system on the Chire (referred to locally as SIDAP) needs to be consolidated and extended to the river's upper reaches - and thus to the Malawi exposure zones. This supra-regional process will be a challenge for all those involved.
 
It is also important to develop further strategies for adapting to climate change and carry out pilot projects. Experience at community level is an important part of this. The ultimate objective must be to extend the flood-warning system to the south of Mozambique as well. Improving flood warning throughout Mozambique is not only a worthy objective in itself, but could also help to demonstrate that it is possible to adapt to climate change even in one of world's poorest countries.