Africa Update #11

The tap turned on this week over most of southern Africa. Flood has been reported in several southern Africa countries, however there are a couple of areas that remain dry.

Heavy rain came down across most of southern Africa. There were only a couple of countries that were left out of the unusually heavy rain. Flooding has been reported in Lesotho, South Africa, and Swaziland. I have yet to see any reports of flooding in northern Namibia or southern Angola, but it is probably a safe bet that some flooding did occur there. Fatalities, damage to infrastructure, livestock deaths and washing away of crops are all possible across this area.

Southeastern parts of Africa missed out on most of the rain. Moderate showers did still fall across Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, and Tanzania. Southern parts of Mozambique, near Maputo, received heavy precipitation, but much of the rest of the country received more moderate totals. Madagascar has taken a poor turn this season. Despite the current La Nina, which is suppose to bring heavy rain to southern Africa, not all locations are benefiting from above normal rainfall. Madagascar, has been consistently dry to this point in the season. If the southern Indian Ocean starts churning out tropical cyclones, like it normally would in a La Nina year, that could very rapidly, and violently, reversed.