Tropical Storm ‘Freddy’ which is expected to make landfall in the coming days will have limited impact on most of the country, while parts of Mpumalanga and Limpopo can expect heavy rain.
“The only province where there is a significant risk of direct impact, in terms of heavy rain, flooding and/or wind damage, is for the very eastern districts of Limpopo province, especially Vhembe and Mopani,” he says. the South African. The Weather Service (SAWS) said Friday.
These districts, including the northern half of Kruger National Park (KNP), will be on the fringes or periphery of the heavy rainfall area.
“As a result, SAWS is issuing a Level 5 (five) Orange Alert, in terms of the SAWS Impact Based Alert System for the easternmost sections of Vhembe and Mopani, respectively. This alert level is associated with a moderate probability of significant impacts.
“The rest of the Limpopo and Mpumalanga low-level regions, as well as the Limpopo Escarpment region are included in a low-level advisory, i.e. a Level 2 yellow advisory for heavy rainfall and/or localized flooding.
“The high levels of uncertainty surrounding the movement and intensity of such tropical systems, especially as they move overland, remain a challenge for meteorologists around the world. Therefore, the public can rest assured that SAWS, in consultation with national and provincial disaster management structures, will continue to closely monitor developments 24/7 and issue regular updates accordingly, across a variety of platforms. of media and social media,” the weather service said.
For the past two days, “Freddy” has been moving rapidly westward through the southern part of the Mozambique Channel towards the Mozambique coast.
“As expected, ‘Freddy’ has steadily intensified during this period, drawing energy from the very hot ocean surface.
“At the time of writing, this system will imminently make landfall on the coast of Mozambique, between the towns of Vilankulos and Maxixe. Sustained winds in association with the vortex, or “eye” of the system, are on the order of 89-118 km/h, so there is a high probability of wind damage to the built environment along the coast and throughout adjacent extension such as “Freddy” lands.
“In addition, there is a high risk of windblown debris, such as corrugated metal, causing serious injury to people and livestock,” SAWS said.
Although “Freddy” arrived on the coast of Mozambique as a severe tropical storm, this system is widely expected to begin weakening and decaying overland over the weekend as it begins to dominate the atmospheric circulation of southern Mozambique, just east of the region of the Lowveld of South Africa.
“Residents of southern Mozambique are therefore advised to be acutely aware that a period of torrential tropical rains and sustained winds is likely to affect a significant portion of southern Mozambique during the second half of Friday and extend throughout the coming weekend.
“Furthermore, major rivers in southern Mozambique will soon be in flood, further aggravating the situation. Communities living along the shorelines of these regions should therefore evacuate to higher ground at an early stage,” SAWS said.
The public is invited and encouraged to follow the weather forecast regularly on television and radio.
Updated information on this will be available regularly at www.weathersa.co.za and via the SA Weather Service Twitter account @SAWeatherService. –SAnews.gov.za
