Pretoria – The South African Weather Service (SAWS) on Thursday warned that Cyclone Freddy was expected to hit South Africa at the weekend.
“We expect ‘Freddy’ to affect the north-eastern parts of South Africa from early Saturday, (25 February 2023), until Monday, (27 February 2023) especially the Lowveld and escarpment areas of Limpopo and Mpumalanga, as the weather system will be semi-stationary along the north-eastern border for a few days,” SAWS said in a weather update at the Press Club in Pretoria.
“Very heavy rainfall in the order of 200 to 400 mm is possible, and this may result in widespread significant flooding.”
In recent days, many parts of the country have been experiencing adverse weather conditions.
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SAWS – the national authoritative voice on severe weather warnings and thought leader on matters of domestic weather and climate forecasting – said it was closely monitoring the Tropical Cyclone.
Freddy became a feature of the circulation of the South-West Indian Ocean region in mid-February and lay about 400 km to the north-east of Mauritius on Monday.
It has been drifting westwards ever since.
Freddy has since made landfall along the eastern coastline of Madagascar, just north of Mananjary, around 19:30 SAST on Tuesday early evening.
“The relatively compact storm was a low-end category 2 tropical cyclone just before making landfall, with winds of 150 km/h and gusts up to 180km/h,” SAWS said.
“It weakened significantly due to the rugged terrain it encountered and was downgraded to an overland depression during the evening.”
The World Meteorological Organization designated Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre located at La Reunion, forecast that Freddy will continue in a west-south-westerly direction over the next few days.
It was expected to regain its strength last night as it moved into the Mozambique Channel.
SAS said Freddy may yet again reach near tropical cyclone status “tonight while heading to southern Mozambique, making landfall just north of Vilanculos tomorrow” (Friday) morning.
“We expect Freddy to affect the north-eastern parts of South Africa from early Saturday, (25 February 2023), until Monday, (27 February 2023), especially the Lowveld and escarpment areas of Limpopo and Mpumalanga, as the weather system will be semi-stationary along the north-eastern border for a few days,” SAWS said.
“Very heavy rainfall in the order of 200 to 400 mm is possible, and this may result in widespread significant flooding.
“The districts in question are Vhembe and Mopani in Limpopo, and to a slightly lesser extent, Ehlanzeni in Mpumalanga.
“This, after significant flooding, occurred over the Lowveld and escarpment areas (such as the Kruger National Park) the last few weeks, may be catastrophic and cause prolonged and severe impacts.”
Although not as much rain is expected over other places in the north-eastern parts, SAWS said residents of the Capricorn District in Limpopo, as well as Umkhanyakude, Zululand and Amajuba in KwaZulu-Natal should be extra vigilant as the situation may be exacerbated by the recent flooding events in these places.
In addition to heavy rains, strong winds caused by Freddy are also expected in the north-eastern parts of the country from Friday evening, with average speeds of about 45 km/h.
“As the South African Weather Service, we are working closely with stakeholders and partners to reduce disaster risk,” SAWS said.
“Yesterday, we briefed the National Joint Flood Coordination Committee.
“This provided us with an opportunity to brief National Disaster Management Centre and sector departments regarding the latest information and guidance regarding Freddy”.
SAWS said in consultation with National and Provincial Disaster Management structures, it will continue to monitor developments around the clock and will issue regular updates.
